


Missing Pieces

by AshaCrone



Series: Fathers and cubs [2]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Body Dysphoria, Body Modification, Bottom Shiro (Voltron), M/M, Mpreg, Multi, Omega Shiro, Post Mpreg
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-22
Updated: 2017-07-22
Packaged: 2018-08-29 07:38:46
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 13
Words: 49,738
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8481133
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AshaCrone/pseuds/AshaCrone
Summary: Thace promised information: where to find the Holts. And he made good on that promise.But his past catches up with him. Not everyone is as willing to forgive. The Resistance remembers the Galra at the helm of the ships that nearly ruined their world. The Holts also remember a very different Shiro than the one they meet at the Castle. And Keith struggles with keeping the choice to keep his secrets or not.





	1. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Note: do not read your own fic with a very old cell phone, logged in, while going through tunnels. Your phone may somehow delete said chapters. It's a bummer, too, because it lost a lot of comments when that happened. I'm very sorry about that.

“So, this is our new room,” Shiro grunted, as he and Thace carried Akira’s crib inside. They put it down, carefully, and Thace look a look around.

Coran had suggested they move into one of the ‘family suites’ down the corridor from the Paladins. It was not much wider than Shiro’s old room or the room Memnon had been assigned, but it did look to have more amenities, including an alcove for the crib and _much_ longer bed. 

That was a relief. 

It didn’t take long for them to move their things in, and Shiro looked a bit bemused at the sheer amount of luggage that Thace had brought. “I’m surprised you could bring so much with you,” he said. And Thace nodded. In addition to the ‘footlocker’ cryopod, Thace had two large crates with him. 

“I started caching things as soon as you were taken by the druids. When I had an opportunity to move, I wanted to be prepared,” he told Shiro. “I had no idea when I would go to ground with Akira.” He opened one crate. Shiro, who had Akira bound to his chest in a sling (courtesy of Coran) whistled. 

Akira squawked.

Shiro quickly bounced the whelp, whispering apologies, as Thace fought a smile. 

Inside were baby supplies: bottles, a pump, skin cleansers, emollients to care fur and skin, diapers, salves, blankets, towels and clothing. There were even a few toys. Most of the the non-consumables were old. Thace hadn’t had time to buy new, but had saved them from when Mayth, or even Zace, was a whelp. They were still sound. Part of him had, wistfully, hoped to give them to either of his sons when they eventually bred. 

Neither had seemed particularly interested. So he had boxed them up. He had never had the heart to throw them out.

“These look familiar. You showed me these before?”

Thace nodded, pulling out a few of the blankets and diapers and setting them in the crib. Shiro smiled. Akira cooed. “What’s in the other crate?”

Thace tilted his head, looking at some of the clothing (Shiro had called them ‘footie pajamas’) and pulling himself free of nostalgia. Instead of speaking, he opened it, and showed Shiro. A few spare suits of clothes for himself (plain black coveralls and robes), a spare sword, a multitool, two smaller boxes and two odd, clear cylinders. 

“Those… those look like…” Shiro began, back stiffening. 

“They’re thought-boxes,” Thace interrupted, because Shiro had a look on his face that did not bode well. “They’re used to record memories and encode files. This one is mine,” he held up one that had almost all of the script worn off. “It’s a journal. This one is Mayth’s,” he said, looking at the other, which had some of the seals cracked. “Zace didn’t keep one. Mayth kept his information for the Resistance here.” Thace cupped it in his hands, before putting it carefully on the ground. 

“And those?” Shiro asked. He was cradling Akira, taking a seat on the bed, pointing at the two small boxes with his chin. 

“Their personal effects were sent to me after they were executed.” For some reason. Even if a day later he had been sent to the gladiator arena. 

Shiro hissed through his teeth. The sound Akira made after that was _definitely_ disapproving. Shiro stroked his son’s head. “I’m sorry.”

Thace looked away. Deliberately he put everything, save Mayth’s thought-box, back in the crate. “You have nothing to apologize for.”

“Not what I meant.”

“I know. Don’t worry about it.”

“ _Thace_.” He looked up. Shiro was sitting on the bed, having unwrapped Akira and was holding him in his arms. “Come here.”

Thace chuffed a laugh at the order, before getting to his feet. Shiro and Akira were warm and alive as he sat beside them, pulling them close. Shiro put his face up, and Thace brushed their lips, then their cheeks, together. 

“Akira’s fallen asleep,” Shiro murmured, one hand on Thace’s chest. “Want to let him try out the crib while we try out the bed?”

~*~*~*~*~

Shiro woke reaching out to find that there was no body beside him.

He jerked awake as the cobwebs of old fears clung to his mind, but he calmed almost immediately when he heard a voice whisper, two very different purrs nearby.

“And then the mighty Voltron grew proud,” he heard Thace murmur. “And she wished to fight even the Goddess of the Heavens herself. Do not ever attempt this folly, my son, for even the great Voltron was brought low. Sundered was she, into five lions, and forever unable to act without the will of mere mortals allowing her to access her great power.”

“So begins the tale of your grandsire,” Thace went on- and then he stopped, chuckling. “And… that put your brother to sleep, too.”

“And you were just getting to the good part,” Shiro said, lazily inching his way to the edge of the bed, where Thace was sitting with Akira at his chest. 

“Hm. If you want to hear a tale of how my illustrious ancestor caught and tamed a red lion from the heavens, perhaps.” His ears were relaxed and content. Shiro was still sprawled out, and ran his hand over Thace’s naked shoulder. Akira was sleeping again, eyes tightly shut with all of the intensity and focus only a cub can manage. His lips sucked on air.

“I should feed him,” Shiro said, before Thace shook his head. 

“No need, he just finished. I was able to handle it.”

Shiro laughed quietly, pushing himself upwards and swinging his legs off the bed. “I think we had better keep Galra toms way from human Omegas or beta women.” He noticed Thace’s ears flatten a bit. Shiro kissed one, smiling as it flicked his nose. He realized he had gotten to sleep a _lot_ longer than he had expected. “Earth might welcome its new overlords if you are all so useful with cubs.”

“Maybe not all,” Thace began. He looked down, smiling. “Many hand their whelps off to a state-run crèche rather than distract from their careers, and that’s… understandable. Especially if they have no Clan to help.”

“You chose otherwise?”

“My sire helped with Zace. I was considering taking him to a crèche -I was very young at the time- but my sire talked me out it. It was worth it. Difficult, but worth it. My career continued regardless.”

Shiro put his chin on Thace’s shoulder, looking down to see Akira’s sleeping face. “He helped with Mayth, too?”

“No. He had fallen in battle by the time I was granted the right for a third breeding.”

“You were alone?”

Thace’s ears twitched back and forth as he considered an answer. “Not always.”

Shiro blinked, mulling that over. Thace was much older than he was, he knew that. He was also someone who clearly enjoyed sex. “Didn’t work out?”

“Died in the line of duty.”

Shiro swallowed hard. “I’m sorry.” He wrapped his arms around Thace’s neck and shoulders, who reached up to stroke his head. 

“Don’t be.” He rubbed his cheek in Shiro’s hair. “Don’t be.”

~*~*~*~*~

Thace took the though-box with him to the morning meal. The little queen deserved to have what answers he could give her.

“What’s that thing?” Pidge asked, as he brought out the clear cylinder and placed it on the table. The rest of the team were watched in curiosity, peering at them.

“Huh. Looks like a version of the personality recorder,” Coran said, popping up out of nowhere. Allura, who had been silent at the end of the table, leaned forward in curiosity. 

“We call it a thought-box.” He touched the base, and a holo-console appeared. “My son used it to encode his files related to the resistance. Files are linked to a specific memory and, in order to access it, someone has to share that particular memory. It’s notoriously hard to crack, which is why the Emperor didn’t have me executed immediately.” He swiped his fingers through the air, and hundreds of small images appeared. “Mayth trusted me with most of his information on the Resistance.” He reached out, grabbing one of the images. __

_-“Papa, help!”_

_The memory unfolded in front of them. Thace was in his study, reading reports that had come in when Mayth had burst inside, holding a tiny avian chick, with an obviously broken wing._

_“What’s wrong, son?”_

_“Can you fix it?” he said. “Please, Papa, it’s broken and its mother was sad and-“_

_“It-“ Thace hesitated. He shouldn’t. His own father would have rejected the plea out of hand. It was a basic life lesson of the Galra: the strong survived and the weak died. This little scrap of feathers was one of hundreds of nestlings in the cliffs nearby, and prey for anything that ate meat._

_But Mayth’s face was gentle and earnest, his eyes were filled with complete and utter trust. Trust that his Papa could do_ anything. _“It may be too hurt to save, son. It may be kinder to let it die.”_

 _“But you can save it. I_ know _you can.”_

_Thace sat back. Put down his reports and held out his hands. “Give it to me. Go get the first aid kit. I’ll do my best.”_

Behind the memory was the location and name of the Resistance cell for the sector of space that held Shiro’s friends and Pidge’s family.

The information text scrolled in front of him… but the team was looking at the memory with big, charmed smiles. Shiro, in particular, had a look that had his ears twitching forward and back. He quickly went back to searching for information.

“We’ll need to go to sector 881624. It is… hm.” He rubbed his chin. “This sector was conquered relatively recently. We took most of the infrastructure intact, including most of the mining facilities. Shiro, you said that the Holts were trained in-“ he turned back towards the Paladins-

Who were all looking at him like whelps begging a sweetie. 

“Can we see some more?” Hunk asked. 

“Some more… what?” Thace was taken aback. 

“Memories! Are all baby Galra so cute?” Lance asked, bouncing in his seat. Even Pidge, who had the most reason to be focused, wasn’t objecting. Keith, in the background, was sitting back in his chair, shoulders slumped but his eyes were glossy. “I mean, man, Akira’s like, the fuzziest fuzzball to ever fuzz, but who knew you all didn’t, I don’t know, pop out of the ground being murder machines of death.”

Thace blinked at him for a few ticks. “After we have planned the mission.”

“Score!”

Thace’s gaze crossed with Keith’s… who just shook his head. A few moments later, he gave the contact information he had to Coran and Pidge.

“It would be best if I was not the one to contact them,” he added. “Especially if they are natives of this sector of space.”

“Why? They were obviously fine with working with Mayth,” Pidge asked. 

“I was a high ranking general.” He kept his face smooth, but he saw Shiro straighten in his chair at the tension in his ears. “It was early in my career, but I was part of the army to conquer this area of space.” And just like that, everyone started to squirm. “And I doubt they would be happy to see me again.”

“All right. Coran and I will get in contact with these people,” Pidge said, taking the information. She got up to leave.

“And in the meantime, we’ll watch Thace Family Home Movies,” Hunk chirped. Shiro was bouncing Akira in his lap and giving him a _look_ that had him flicking his ears all the more in embarrassed pleasure.

He didn’t really see the harm in it, necessarily… Most of these were happy memories. Memories that lacked the sting of what would come. He cherished them. Knowing that Mayth had felt them worth preserving like this was a balm on his heart. 

He flicked his fingers, finding another memory to share.

_\- The memory unfolded, under a twilight sky lit by the planet-light._

_“Zace! Mayth! What are you _doing?_ ”_

_Mayth was laughing, his little avian friend screaming in distress as he clung to the branch of a tree. “Catch me, Papa! CATCH ME!”_

_“Spirts of the Lions, what-“_

_“Papa I swear I only turned my back for a moment...” Zace said, almost in a panic._

_Allura took her plate and left._

__

~*~*~*~*~*~

The little angry tom had a lot of passion, very good reflexes, and worthy ferocity. Shiro had called him an Alpha. Shiro’s explanation had been that Alphas were evolved to be hunters and protectors of their packs, if not the leaders. They didn’t work well with each other, which is why they weren’t common. They could respect a hierarchy if they were related but otherwise they would fight for dominance.

Thace just enjoyed sparring with him.

They faced each other in the training room, practice blades drawn, circling each other. The he learned at a frightening rate. What he did lack was the stamina for anything protracted, or the ability to strategize in the middle of a fight. Keith had an advantage in speed, but he lacked in strength, cunning, and experience. 

“Your technique is raw, whelp,” he offered, shifting his stance before striking at his shoulder. Keith dodged, and failed to counter. “How long did you train?”

“Not- my father started teaching me when I was a kid,” Keith said, face covered in sweat but not out of breath. “My mother kept it up, but they had different styles.”

He could see that. One took advantage of Keith being a runt, while the other was ferocious and aggressive. “Are you full grown?”

Keith’s eyes narrowed, before darting in to attack Thace’s legs. 

“Yes, I am _full grown_ ,” Keith snarled in reply. “Shiro’s right, you are a condescending bastard.”

Thace had been trained by his own father in how to use the sword. He had trained both of his sons. Zace had taken to the sword like he was born to it; Mayth had treated it like a game.

“Shiro was the first of your kind I ever,” and he twisted, getting out of the way of a wide swing, “met. I don’t know what is normal for your species yet. The question is honest.”

Keith was quiet for a moment, before trying to leap and attack at the same time, yelling challenge in a flashy move that left him completely open.

Thace swatted Keith’s blade from his hand. “You’re talented. Do you want to learn more? I would like to teach you,” he offered, and smirked. “Lesson one: don’t leave yourself open when you are trying to distract someone.”

From the other end of the gym their audience hooted and hollered, clapping their hands. 

“You did better this time! You lasted an entire ten minutes!” Lance cheered… or jeered. Thace wasn’t quite sure what the nature of their relationship was. What he did smell was that Lance was _incredibly_ turned on by the fight.

Keith growled and tried to do a somersault to get to his blade; Thace stepped on hilt as he reached it. “It is your decision.”

Keith tried to tug the blade free, then stood up. Then he swept Thace’s feet out from under him.

Thace landed and rolled, and smiled. Clever boy.

“I think…” Keith panted, trying to get his wind back. “I think I would like that.” He offered Thace a hand. “You’re good.”

“So are you. But you can get better.” He took the proffered hand, and Keith squeezed it. He looked… young. Very young. “So. Tomorrow, after we get back from the mission?”

“Okay.” The young tom ducked his head, looking at the ground as a shy smile crossed his face. “Let’s do that.”

They were interrupted by Lance crashing into Keith and babbling; Keith’s face turned its own bright shade of red as Lance put his hands in Keith’s pockets and started walking him towards the door. Keith barely kept his cool, before grabbing Lance’s hands and turning to run out of the gym.

“Hm. I need to have a talk with those two,” Shiro muttered. Not that he was in a better state than Lance. Thace walked up him and knelt. He could smell Shiro’s arousal from across the room. His vest was open, shirt pulled up for Akira to suckle… Which was not a turn off. Instead the sight of Akira with his dam just made him feel pleased and smug, knowing that he had done that. Made a small person, made Shiro thrash and scream, given him a big belly. Shiro seemed to be affected in much the same way. 

“About what?”

Shiro looked down at Akira. “Lance and Keith seem pretty young for cubs. Especially with our situation. I need to see if they’re taking precautions. Akira was… unavoidable.” He smiled down at the whelp, who continued nursing, grunting and purring in contentment. “More cubs would be a distraction.”

Thace nodded. “I am not blind to the situation, or our respective places in it.” 

Shiro took a long, shaky breath. “Thace…” 

“Do we have a means to prevent conception on board?”

Shiro looked down at Akira, and sighed. “For right now, we should be okay. Nursing can keep an Omega from having a heat for a year.” Thace lightly brushed the side of his face. Shiro leaned into his hand. “I am such a hypocrite.” He curled into Thace’s chest, but said nothing more. 

“No. You are being responsible. You are their leader. Being off-world for a pregnancy is not healthy for a queen and whelp. I am more than willing to care for Akira, but more than that would strain resources.”

Shiro breathed, a puff of air against his chest. Akira started to slow in feeding, eyes rolling as he fought sleep. “I’ll talk with Lance about it. You seem to be hitting it off with Keith.”

Thace twitched his ears. “He is much like Zace when he was younger. Serious and eager to fight and prove himself.”

“I’m glad. I’ve known Keith for a long time. He doesn’t open up easily, but he’s a good kid.” 

Akira came off of Shiro’s tit with a pop, and both parents smiled at him, smacking his lips together for a yawn. “He’s so beautiful,” Shiro said, smiling tenderly. His joy holding Akira made Thace want to roar or sing. He settled for purring.

“Hm. He is.” He stroked Akira’s face. “So are you.” He reached down, absently catching a few drops of Shiro’s milk to lick off his fingers.

Shiro’s pupils dilated; bright spots of red were high on his cheeks as he breathed in deeply, and Thace grinned to himself. 

“Do that again and you’re going to have to carry me to the bedroom,” Shiro said. 

Thace’s grin turned into a smirk.


	2. Chapter 2

“So,” Shiro began, stopping, and wondering if he genuinely had any idea of how to start this conversation.

“Yup?” Lance answered. He was jogging from their last training session; Shiro had honestly been impressed with his marksmanship this last time. 

“About you and Keith?”

Lance kept jogging, forcing Shiro to do the same to keep up. He shrugged one shoulder, but the smile he had one earlier fell from his face. “We… we bonded.”

“And I’m happy about that. Really, I am, but I wanted to talk to you about something else,” Shiro said, putting his hand on Lance’s shoulder to get him to stop moving. 

He did, eyebrows up. “What’s wrong?” he said, voice low. 

“Okay. You know where cubs come from, right?”

Lance looked at him, eyebrows crawling up his forehead, before cackling. “Oh- oh- Space Dam- I- you think I don’t know-“

“Do you have contraception?” Shiro finally bit out. “Are you two safe?”

The laughter died. “Yeah. We’re covered.” Lance shifted his weight, this time completely sober. “I shifted really early and my first heat after that… I was… I think I was eight.” Shiro choked. Lance’s smile was shaky. “It was pretty bad. I told you it can fuck you up, right? No one actually touched me, but if my mom, dam and my sire hadn’t been around…” His smile was strained. “At any rate, they took me to the doctor and I’ve had an IUD and a separate regulator since then. Never felt like a woman so I kept presenting as man. My family was okay with it.”

Shiro blinked and swallowed. “Lance, I didn’t know.”

The smile wasn’t real, but Lance waved off the apology. “No harm no foul. I was lucky. At least I didn’t shift on an alien space ship.”

Shiro looked down. “Yeah. So.” He cleared his throat. “No cubs for you?”

“My IUD needs to come out in a few years. I hope by then we’re close enough to Earth,” Lance said, rocking back and forth, and he looked glum. “I don’t… Having cubs out here? Kinda scary.”

Shiro nodded. “Yeah. Thace, obviously, didn’t know anything about human pregnancy and my knowledge was, ah, sketchy.” He looked at his feet.

“Hell. No one knew you were a ‘tween. People were saying you were an Alpha who somehow managed to sneak through,” Lance said and snickered. “Bet they would be…”

Shiro grimaced. 

“And you never told anybody,” Lance said, lifting an eyebrow, then frowning. “Did you want to?”

Shiro shrugged. “I never _minded_ being a beta. I was going to be a good Japanese boy and go to a matchmaker after I got back from Kerberos. Find a wife, have a cat and a son to carry on the family name. I could have lived with that.”

Lance’s face went still. “Did anyone ever ask you? How old were you when you got your implant?”

Shiro didn’t lift his eyes. “Doesn’t matter anymore, does it?” The paradox of this entire nightmare had been waking up in a body he didn’t know, but had felt more like himself than the one he remembered. His sense of smell had become far more acute, bathing the world in new shades. He had never enjoyed being touched before; he wasn’t exactly a virgin when he left for Kerberos but he had never felt like sex was anything but awkward. And well. That had changed. “I am what I am now.”

Lance shook his head, then smirked. “You realize your cat _is_ your son carrying on your family name?”

He barely dodged Shiro’s grab before he ran away cackling.

~*~*~*~*~*~

Keith almost walked into the lounge where Thace was, before taking a step back.

The Galra was sitting on the couch, watching a memory fragment from the thought-box.

The memory looked to be far more recent, judging by Mayth no longer being a child. Instead he looked to be a young adult, hair thick and shaggy and with his hands up in the air as he ranted.

He was jabbing a finger at memory-Thace, who stood unmoving against Mayth’s anger. 

_“Why should I listen to a broken old fool like you? Huh? Why do we have to put up with that shit?”_

_“Because there is nothing to be done.”_ The memory-Thace sounded broken, tired. _“Zarkon’s hold is absolute. Our Clan were once the caretakers for this world. Clan Agamen now is four souls because we rebelled once, and we were restored from a queen’s line. We still fared better than others. I’ve seen species annihilated for rebellion. Worlds were withered for sedition. Give up this foolishness.”_

_“I hate you!”_

Keith didn’t realize he had made a noise until the memory halted.

“You may enter,” a voice called, and Keith winced. He absently twiddled his fingers before walking in.

He stood across from Thace, who was folded up on one of the couches. He was putting the thought-box away, ears slightly flattened. Akira was in his lap, holding on to Thace’s fingers and staring at his feet with something like shock. Keith hunched his shoulders forward, head down as he walked in. 

“What is it?”

Keith opened his mouth. Closed it again. He had a lot to say, wasn’t sure how to say it, or even if it needed to be said. “Um. General Thace-“

Thace shook his head. “I no longer hold that title.”

“Um. Okay, sir- uh-“

“THERE YOU ARE!” Lance called, trotting in and clapping a hand on Keith’s shoulder. Both Thace and Keith jumped- and Akira shrieked in surprise, before bursting into tears. “Oh, shit. Cub! Akira, honey, I’m so sorry-“

Thace _growled_. Lance promptly hid behind Keith. “I came to get you for the mission!” he hissed as Thace brought the cub to his chest and stroked his face. 

He felt Lance’s fingers tighten on his shoulders at the sight, smelling vaguely nervous. Keith put one hand over Lance’s. “Are you sure you can’t come with us, G- sir?”

Thace shook his head. “No. It would be unwise.”

“I’ll miss you, though,” a new voice called, and Shiro walked in. He, like the others, was wearing a hooded white robe to cover his armor and blend in. Thace’s ears relaxed as he got to his feet. Akira calmed almost immediately at the sound of his dam’s voice, and cooed, waving his hands. Shiro smiled at Keith and Lance, and gestured with his chin. “Can I have a moment?”

Keith felt his stomach twist and plummet, heart swell and bruise. Lance tugged at his shoulder, dragging him to the corridor. 

“Hey.” Lance searched his face. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing.” Nothing he could talk about. Not really. “Don’t worry about it.”

“Bullshit,” Lance said, and rolled his eyes. “Y’know Shiro just tried to give me the talk? About, y’know, cubs?” His face went pale. “Is that what’s wrong? You want-“

“N-no-“ Keith stuttered, surprised. “I mean, I just- I have no idea how to- what would they look like- But that’s not what’s-“

Lance winced at Keith’s flailing. “I know we don’t… talk, much. But. I’ll listen. Promise. One hundred percent non-judgmental Lance.” He had his hands out, open. He looked like he meant it.

Keith huffed, searching for words. “They remind me of my parents.”

Lance slapped his hand over his mouth to stop the laughter.

Keith grunted and crossed his arms, turning to walk away.

“No, wait, wait, I’m sorry-“ Lance said, and cleared his throat. “Just- you know, it explains a lot about you if your dam is a pilot and your sire is a seven foot tall purple cat alien.”

“ _Was_ a pilot.”

“So, they- oh no. Oh geeze.” Lance dragged his hand down his face. “I- I’m sorry.”

“She died when I was ten. The plane she was in crashed, but I don’t think it was an accident.” Keith looked down at his hands, which were clenched into fists. “And… yeah.”

“Your dad?” Lance was leaning in, arms at his side. “What happened to him?”

“He disappeared a year before. Mom came and told me that Dad had to leave because the G- the bad people were looking for him.” Keith brushed his fingers over his mouth; he had almost said too much. “She said he had to, to protect us.”

Lance was rocking back and forth on his heels, eyes huge. “Woah. I mean-“ He launched himself forward, planting a peck on Keith’s lips and squeezing Keith for all he was worth. Keith let himself relax, resting his face against Lance’s shoulder. 

“It was a long time ago,” Keith muttered. Lance pet his hair, and he tried hard not to purr. “But I still miss them.”

“Keith, my man, sweetheart,” Lance said softly. “It’s okay. You can miss them.”

Keith took a deep breath. He knew it was a deep breath, even if it sounded more like a sob. 

“You doing okay there, Keith?” a voice called, and Keith looked up to see Shiro standing there. He looked flushed and well-kissed, faint tooth marks on his chin. Thace was standing behind him, holding Akira, who was slobbering on his fist and giving them a very solemn, cross-eyed stare.

“I’ll be okay. It won’t interfere with the mission,” he promised. Lance stepped to the side, arm around Keith’s shoulders. Keith, unconsciously, wrapped an arm around his waist.

Shiro gave them both a pat on the arm as they walked out to the green lion hangar.

~*~*~*~*~

Allura was designated the team spokesman for this mission, though Pidge had been the one to broach contact. Shiro willingly took the rear position, making sure that no one straggled behind.

“I still say you should have come along,” he said, low enough that only his communicator picked it up. “You sound like you’ve had boots on the ground here. We could use that.”

Thace paused. Shiro didn’t push; Thace usually tried to think his answers through carefully. “ _My knowledge is very old. I haven’t been here since we first arrived. But look around you. What do you see?_ ”

They were ambling through a residential area, towards what looked to be a market street. There were buildings that stood in stark contrast to each other- some that seemed quite old but well maintained and others that were so space-age that they sparkled. Gardens. Merchants and workers. “I see people going about their business.” 

_“What do you think a typical conquered world looks like?”_

Shiro blinked. “Worse. Much worse.

 _“Yes.”_ He paused again. _“We stumbled into this system by accident. The native species already had a defensive armada and we were only in a lightly armed scouting vessel. A normal Galra cruiser would have annihilated the planet for daring to fire on us. But our CO and XO were killed in the initial confrontation. I was an ensign at the time, but no one else was assuming command, so I had to. I couldn’t call for a full retreat. If I had done so, we would have been executed for treason as soon as we returned to Galra space.”_

Shiro blinked again, stumbling as they kept walking along. “Pretty harsh.”

Thace sighed. _“Success, or death. So I had my cohort seed the rings of the third planet with mines and sent out a distress call. They came after us. I didn’t realize how fragile their ships were and we took out most of them. So we flew in and I introduced myself as Commander, told them I was going to throw asteroids at them and let them think that we_ hadn’t _just lost most of our weapons, our nav systems and commanding officers.”_

Shiro stopped. “So an ensign conquered a space faring civilization with a few mines, a broken ship, no experience, and a bluff.”

 _“Yes- that’s not the important thing,”_ Thace said, sounding flustered. Shiro could imagine his ears flattening in embarrassment. _“We usually bombard planets and purge the inhabitants. But this place was in the outskirts and bringing in a ship big enough to actually do the work would have taken up resources already tied up in the main galaxy. Backup arrived many weeks later, and they put down most of the ruling class and set up some governors and left the planet alone. That’s why the Resistance is able to take root here; the abuses that happened in other parts of the galaxy where no where near as total and complete.”_

Shiro shook his head. “That’s… pretty impressive, General.”

“He’s evil Galra Kirk,” Lance muttered. Into the communicator.

Shiro slumped. “Is this an open channel?” he demanded. He was _very_ glad he hadn’t made a comment about the size of Thace’s balls. 

“Yes,” Allura answered, and there were soft snickers from the Paladins. “So, you came in and slaughtered the leadership of the native people?”

 _“Yes, we did.”_ He was quiet for a moment. _“My face will be remembered. That is why you or one of the Paladins should do the talking. Shiro, you may be known as well. But be wary. Gladiators are famous but not held in high esteem.”_

“Why did you do it?” Allura said, voice crackling across the com as well as in person. “Why did you attack them?”

_“We made an error. This area of space is hidden by large cloud of dust when a star went supernova about a thousand years ago. My CO believed that, if there was a species native to the system, they had not achieved space flight yet. So we stumbled in blindly and lost almost half our crew. But the Emperor does not allow for failure. I had to choose between the lives of my crew, and the people who attacked us.”_

“And what if you had? Surrendered to the Pholidotajin?” she demanded. “You could have lived out your lives in peace.”

_“No. The Empire would never forgive such a slight.”_

“You are trying to rationalize what you did,” Allura said, bitterly. By now everyone had stopped and were looking at her, and listening to Thace’s answers.

_“Perhaps. Dissent of any kind was punishable by being sent to the gladiator arena or execution. I had to choose, and I wanted to live.”_

“Allura,” Shiro started, and then stopped. “I think… I think we had better get to the meeting.”

Everyone shared looks, most of them uncomfortable. “Yes,” Allura said, squaring her shoulders. “Let’s go.”

The marketplace itself was fascinating. The native species, the Pholidotajin, were about human height and covered in keratin plates, with long, agile tongues that constantly tasted the air. They came shades of blue, and different sizes. He could see that it had been awhile since the Galra had taken hold; it reminded him a bit of home where English was written on everything because it was cool but few actually cared what was said. 

Everything was a riot of sounds and smells in the dusky light. He heard languages producing sounds that varied from trills to sub-vocals. Foodstuffs of all varieties were hawked from their booths: plants, meats, fungus, insects, and plumes of smoke and steam billowed into the open air. Vats of fermented… something were on the right. They gave it a wide berth.

There were other aliens as well, peoples he didn’t know. There were a few full-blooded Galra: off-duty soldiers, the occasional civilian and even one family. The other aliens went quiet as they passed. Here and there he saw people who were obviously mixed Galra blood. They kept their heads down and ducked away when one of natives or the purebloods made eye contact.

“How close are we?”

“Almost there,” Pidge said, looking at the wrist projector. 

_“Are you in the market? I recall a local fungus that was excellent when fried. Hunk may want to try it.”_

Hunk perked up. 

“Any signs that we’ve been spotted?” he asked. This time it was Coran who answered.

_“Nothing so far. Most of the communications chatter has been mundane. Yup. Looks like the head of the local garrison has had an affair with the governor’s son and… yeah, yeah, nothing about us yet. Huh. Well, didn’t know they were that flexible-“_

Shiro heard Thace make an exasperated noise in the background. _“That is irrelevant to the mission-“_

_“Look who’s talking, Mr. ‘edible fungus’!”_

_“Resupply is always relevant.”_

Shiro groaned under his breath. “Okay everyone. Almost there. Eyes and ears sharp. Pidge, if you can hack any feeds in the area, do it. We want to know what they know. Allura, do you know much about these people?”

“They’re not much older than humanity, I’m afraid. We knew this moon had a developing sentient species and that was it.”

“Okay. Lance, no flirting. Keith, no threatening torture for information. Hunk-“ Hunk, who had been edging towards the salvage stalls, crept back. “After the mission.” He nodded.

A loud squeal over the coms interrupted Shiro- and Shiro’s back went stiff as every muscle went tense and his heart _stopped-_

 _“No, no_ no _Akira. That’s Uncle Coran’s mustache!”_

Allura chuckled as Shiro braced himself on a wall in relief. 

_“I will take Akira back,”_ Thace said quickly. _“He is well, Shiro. Coran picked him up.”_

 _“Cheeky little bugger ain’t ya?”_

Shiro’s heart jumped back on to the job. He gulped air, and nodded for everyone to peel off to do their jobs. It took a few minutes, but they found their contact.

The alien looked to be a member of the Pholidotajin, whose plates were a faded gray-blue. Xi held a cup to xir face, tongue flicking in and out to get something that could have been bugs or seeds, and around the cup as well. Xi was also poking at a holo screen, glancing up with pale-orange-on-white eyes. 

Allura walked up to xir. “I’m sorry, is this seat taken?” She sat down.

Xi glanced Allura’s way. “Wonderful weather we’re having today.” Sign.

“But I always carry an umbrella,” Allura answered, only stumbling a little over the words. Countersign.

“I take it you are the person using the old codes to contact us?” Xi asked. 

“Our information is not so current. We’re trying to find some people and we were told you might be able to help us,” Allura said, cautiously. It seemed like the entire area was… a little too quiet, now that Shiro thought about it. 

“Keep an eye out,” he said into the coms. “I doubt this person would be meeting someone so obviously out in the open like this without backup.”

“We’re aware of who you are, Paladins of Voltron,” their contact said, suddenly, and standing. “What we’re curious about is how you got those codes.” The alien was just slightly shorter than Allura. “The operative who used them died over a year ago. They’ve been active in the interim, sending information to us on the Lions, but even then we were suspicious.”

Allura’s eyebrows went up. “We recently came across… an information broker with the codes. He sold them to us for passage.”

Shiro exhaled in relief. 

Around him, though, he thought he could see the tails they had picked up: a child, or very tiny, Pholidotajin, an alien who looked suspiciously like one of the people they had rescued from Sendak’s ship, and some other adults who had started to tighten their net. They were herding the rest of the Paladins in. 

“So you say.” Xi put down xir snack. “Just who are you looking for?”

“We are looking for these two,” Allura said, opening up her own holo-panel. It projected the image of Sam and Matt that Thace had given them a few days (just a few days? Really?) ago. 

“Any particular reason why?”

“They are family to one of my Paladins,” Allura said, bluntly. “Getting them back would tie up a major loose end and allow my paladins to focus more on their mission."

Shiro realized he was being pushed in closer.

“But what can you offer us in exchange?” 

“The support of the most powerful weapon in the universe should be nothing to sneeze at,” Allura pointed out, standing herself and then stretching herself taller. “And it is not a huge thing we are asking for. We don’t even need for you to do the rescuing. All we need is a location.”

The Pholidotajin made a snuffling sound. “We are willing to do as you ask, but we want the person who gave you those codes.”

“He’s no longer on board,” Allura said without hesitation. 

“Your friend there says otherwise,” Xi said, walking up to Shiro, flicking out xir tongue to Shiro’s face. “I admit, I am surprised to see that one of the Paladins is a Galra bitch.” The translator microbes expressed his snapping jaw as contempt. “You smell like whelp and Galra jizz. It’s disgusting.”

Shiro heard the rest of the Paladin’s bite off curses. He felt, more than heard, Thace’s growl. “What are you insinuating?”

“That operative I mentioned? He was a friend of mine. His brother had been a mole of ours for over a generation.” Clicking plates came across as frustration and agitation in xir voice. “We want a little payback for that.”

 _“Zace was..?”_ he heard Thace whisper. 

Shiro tried to relax his shoulders. “Your operative was Mayth-“

_“Agamen Mayth.”_

“Agamen Mayth, right?” Shiro offered. “He tried to send his files to someone he trusted, and used a thought-box to do it.”

Xi nodded. “He was always overly fond of the damn things.”

“His sire was able to open it.” 

Xi went very, very still. “So. That explains a great deal, Champion.” Shiro winced. “… a great deal.” Xi looked at Shiro and sighed. “Then we still have to look internally.” Xi sounded grim. “We can give you the location of the Holts,” making everyone jump that xi knew their name. “We’ve been tracking them for awhile now. And after this, you owe us a favor.” Xi turned and put a small cube in Allura’s hand. “This should have the data you need to find your people.”

Allura nodded at him. “Very well. Thank you for your aid.” She shrank back down to her usual height. “Though you owe my Paladin an apology for your coarse language.”

Xi flicked xir tongue again. “I was friends with Agamen Mayth for a long time. Agamen Zace knew my great-grandparents. They held their sire in high esteem, no matter how others felt towards him. So I will apologize for my remarks.” Xir tongue slapped Shiro’s chin. “Just be aware that my kind are not often welcoming to those who willingly breed with Galra.” Xi withdrew xir tongue. “But… it’s not a bad thing, that there are more Clan Agamen. We could use more Galra with a conscience.”

They never got xir name, but xi bowed xir head, before gesturing for xir allies to follow. They left.

Shiro rubbed his chin self-consciously, fingers passing over the faint grazes from Thace’s canines.

 _“I should have considered this,”_ he heard Thace say. _“I’m sorry that-“_

“You aren’t responsible for other people being assholes,” Shiro answered. “And I’ve been called worse. So don’t _you_ worry about it, okay?”

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Allura peering at him, at his chin, before gesturing for Pidge to come to her. Which she did, eagerly.

“See what you can do with this,” Allura said, putting the cube in Pidge’s palm. “Let’s go find your family.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And, as I curse my post-election hangover, I feel almost a pressing need to apologize to the world for Trump. Nothing I could have done that I didn't do, but. Still. Fuck.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm going to be super busy this next week, so please enjoy this slightly early update.

Three years ago, Matt Holt met Shirogane Takashi.

The competition to get into the upcoming Kerberos mission was intense. Pilots not only had to have the highest marks at the Garrison, but they had to have a hundred hours of flight time already.

The first time they met, after the trials and interviews and tests had been completed, Matt had been convinced that Shirogane Takashi was an Alpha. They had been called in for their official first briefing on the mission, which outline the goals, objectives, rewards and risks that such a remarkable mission entailed. Up until that moment, Matt had only been remotely aware of Shirogane Takashi’s existence. They had been in completely different tracks at the Garrison; an admiring glance at his backside didn’t count.

One of the unspoken rules about deep space missions was that Alphas didn’t go on them. The Martian colony had strict rules on Alphas being on hormone inhibitors. No Alphas were permanently stationed at the Europa research station. For the first time in history, betas and Omegas actually had an advantage when it came to being selected for jobs. But this mission? Being stuck in a tin can the size of an old-fashioned tractor-trailer for almost a year with only two other people?

But Takashi fit the stereotype so well. Tall, broad, with a chin that Matt imagined could be used to crack walnuts. 

“What the hell is a guy like that doing going on a deep space mission?” he had hissed to his dad. The team was, by necessity for such a long mission, small and the people selected were multi-talented and experienced. Matt’s Dad Sam was selected because his feet had hit mud on more worlds than any human alive. He had been part of the teams that made it to Europa and Enceladus. Matt had grown up hearing his father’s stories. Matt had been chosen because he was the top of his class, had been building and programming A.I.s since he was five. He had seen Shirogane’s bona fides but…

“Isn’t he going to end up thumping his chest and pissing on us after a while?”

Sam had looked down at Matt from behind his glasses. “Hm. You hadn’t gotten to his medical information yet?”

“That wasn’t included in the briefing,” Matt said, hastily. 

“When has that stopped you before?”

Which was a good point, and one that Matt quickly rectified when he got to his quarters.

He was a bit befuddled to learn that the man was actually an in-between. 

Not that there was anything wrong with that. Katie was one. Most never actually shifted, either. Just… no one with shoulders like _that_ should…

And that was when Matt realized he was developing a crush on one Shirogane Takashi.

~*~*~*~*~

The next year had been constant training, press conferences and more training.

It was exhausting. The Garrison had been four years, giving him the groundwork to work with other people in space. That had been endless rounds of technology, language, and physical training. Now he had to learn the specifics of the mission: how to do emergency patches on the ship, preparing psychologically for being isolated from the rest of the human race for the year they would be away. 

When they weren’t training, it was doing the press circuit. They were going on the most ambitious, dangerous deep space mission in human history: to land on a Kupier belt object. So they were taken out and shown through their paces like dogs in a kennel show. Their lives were turned into biopics, their faces into memorabilia. And that was when Matt realized, to his chagrin, why Takashi Shirogane had been chosen for his position as their pilot. 

Takashi was damn good at his job. He had all the required experience. But they needed a dashing hero, someone with the chin and the shoulders and the looks to be the face of the mission. He and his father were the brains. But the public needed someone to latch on to, and even though society had progressed, people still wanted their heroes to be Alphas. Even if Alphas were detrimental to the mission.

To his credit, Takashi had taken all of it in stride. And Matt had been the one to bristle indignantly whenever men and women both tripped over their tongues to talk to him. Probably because he treated them all politely, kindly, making sure they knew he wasn’t interested in them and then sending them on their way.

In the last year, Takashi had been brought into the Holt family whenever there was a break. He had gone to visit Matt’s mom, Laura, and Katie his sister. Sam enjoyed his company.

Matt had gotten to meet Takashi’s mother Ayumi, and his brother Ryou. (Who was, quite ironically, all of the Alpha that Takashi wasn’t.) He had gotten to see that underclassman who trailed behind Takashi like a duckling. (He never spoke to Matt, but his father Sam had made a few inquiries when he saw them video chatting.)

Takashi treated Matt almost the exact same way as he treated his fans. 

“No he doesn’t,” Dad pointed out, as they walked out the door of the family house. Both of his parents were founders of the Galaxy Garrison. His mother, Laura, while not a scientist, worked as part of the admin staff. (She reminded him, frequently, that it took more than science to keep things working. He occasionally agreed with her.)

Matt scowled at his Dad. “He doesn’t give me the time of day.”

“So you ignore that you hang out most days, go do karaoke, argue over Marvel or DC, who the best Doctor was… and say it’s the same as him not returning your crush?”

Matt knew it wasn’t. But he also knew that no one could be _that_ oblivious. Takashi wasn’t talking to him about it, the same way he refused to talk about being an in-between with the media.

Their friendship was strong and steady. Matt could admit that. And it was probably better to keep it that way, given that they were going to be sharing a very small space for a year. 

Then came the mission. And the most terrifying moment of his life. 

Takashi had done his best. He had tried to protect them. But there was nothing that could be done in the face of _goddamn fucking aliens_ coming out of nowhere to scoop them up and drag them to hell. And hell it was. 

His father had been in shock through most of it. Through the interrogation, the torture, and the moment where they had been parted. Then he and Takashi had been herded out to an arena, told that they were going to fight for the amusement of their masters. 

He heard the other slaves whispering, hissing, sobbing. They were going up against someone who had never been defeated. They were facing a Galra monster. And Matt was selected to go first.

When Takashi attacked him in the queue, he didn’t know what to think. That the confinement and terror had made Takashi crack, go insane. Perhaps he thought he was thinking of a mercy kill. All Matt knew was that Takashi suddenly ran forward, grabbing the proffered sword from the drone and dashed back towards him, howling that it was his fight, a crazed look in his eye. He wanted blood.

The slash was quick, deep, and Matt wound up on his back as Takashi loomed over him- and his face changed.

“Look after your father.”

He had never loved anyone so much in that moment, or hated someone so much, either. Loved, because he was convinced that Takashi had just traded his life for Matt’s, and hated, because of guilt and regret and the unspoken promise of maybe worse to come. 

His next clear memory was of finding his dad in the work camp. What came next was being transferred once it became apparent they were more intelligent than average, able to pick up and understand tech despite being ‘primitive scientists.’ 

Eventually, they found themselves on ship that was part of an ice cracking operation in a different galaxy from the Milky Way. If the Garrison knew about it, it was probably only had a numerical designation. He didn’t think they were even within the Local Cluster. 

The ship they were on was working to extract water ice from a massive icy body at the edge of a star system; the inner planets were too big to have a surface that could be walked on, but the outer gas giants actually had moons that were remarkably earth-like, with their own native sentient species.

What was left of it, at any rate. 

The system _was_ controlled by the Galra, after all.

Over the course of the year, life settled into a routine. They would work the ice-cracking rig with a group of half-breeds and skilled slaves under their overseer (and hadn’t that been a shock- aliens that could interbreed with other aliens) until their shift was over and they were switched out to the next group. The trading hub on the planet-moon was big and required fuel, and they got it from here. The fuel for the worm holes was something else, but the ships themselves seemed to use fusion bottles. 

“Hey, that another of your kind, berk?” one of the half-breeds (NO, only an eighth! My blood ain’t that dirty), Delan, said, tapping him with a purple hand. There was a feed from the gladiator arena on one of the holo-monitors in the canteen. He and his dad had just gotten off their shift, gotten their tray of food wafers and cups of unidentified green sludge and slid in to a table.

Matt rather liked Delan, once he got used to someone who was almost half a meter taller than him and had purple plates like a pangolin. “Bit bigger than you, yeah?”

Sam’s eyes were glued to the image; Matt felt his heart try to pound out of his chest. 

The man in the arena looked to have once been Takashi. He looked… different. His face was scarred with a half-healed slash over his face. His arms and shoulders were even thicker now. But what was most different were the eyes. Takashi had always been kind, but now there was an edge of hardness to him-

He was fighting two warriors that he had seen before, and there was a lively round of aliens laying down bets. Apparently these two were some well-liked favorites from a species he hadn’t seen before. Matt’s stomach iced over.

“Hm. That’s interesting,” Dad muttered, and rubbed his chin. “Where have I see that Galra before?”

That was when Matt realized that Takashi wasn’t alone. There was another Galra in the ring with him, and they were back to back, before splitting apart as the Galra took on the two gladiators while Takashi dashed away. The Galra had taken a blow to the head, and blood was dripping from a contusion over his right eye. The favorites must have realized he was blind on that side because they shifted tactics, one feinting, the other getting on to his blind side and pushing him back, making him fall and lose his sword.

“Hope they take the old fucker’s head,” Delan spat, tongue lashing out over xir teeth.

Takashi came back, and this time he was _berserk_ , driving one of the gladiators off the Galra and giving him time to get to his feet, who promptly caught and stole the sword from the warrior he was fighting. The guy Takashi was fighting was bigger than he was, and his arms were shaking each time he blocked. His companion kicked the other gladiator after he took the sword, charged the remaining gladiator-

Almost every alien in the canteen made some noise of disapproval as he swung, taking off the arm of the gladiator attacking Takashi. 

A buzzer screeched. Drones ran in to the arena and the two former favorites were dragged off the field. The Champion and the General were declared the victors.

The disapproval, something like boos, intensified. Matt shared a mystified glance with his father. His father, on the other hand, looked as though he had seen a ghost. 

“Who was that?” he finally asked.

“That? Thought you berks might know the Champion. He’s, like, taken down a dozen favorites by now,” Delan said, confused, plates lifting on top of xir head. 

“Of course we do. He means the Galra that everyone’s got it out for,” Matt replied. His Dad clutched at his cup of thick bitter green sludge.

“That? That’s the General Agamen Thace.” Xi flipped xir tongue out again. “Our system was… _invited_ … to join the Galra empire about six generations ago. We gave ‘em some _good_ hospitality though. Kept things nice and warm for ‘em.” Delan’s jaw trembled. “Then that berk shows up and fucks us all over. Managed to draw out our military and destroy it before threatening the planet with kinetic weaponry. Of course we fucking _joined the Empire_ after that.”

Matt, who had been trying to take a sip of his own sludge, choked.

“Six? _Six?_ ” Time was a blur out in space, but as a general rule, larger species lived longer lives. That was… not an insignificant amount of time. “How long do Galra live?”

“Long.” Delan licked xir lips. “There are stories that the Emperor is immortal.” Xi hunched xir shoulders. “Most of ‘em wind up dead from fighting.” A vicious smile lit xir face. “The universe had revenge, though. His own kind turned on him. We all watched as his family got executed. We threw a party.”

“Agamen,” Dad muttered. Color slowly drained from his face. He looked down at his cup. Swished the contents. There were lines of tension around his eyes and mouth. “Why did they kill them?” His fingers started tracing patterns on the table. Delan’s tongue flipped out, and flopped from side to side, before pulling back in.

“Don’t know, don’t care,” he muttered, before getting to his feet. “All that mattered was that we got some payback.”

Two days later, Matt and his Dad were dragged out of their beds in the middle of a sleep cycle.

And that was Matt’s introduction to the Resistance cell on planet Pholidota.

To be continued.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I imagine that this is how Thace sounds when he purrs: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=drq_ww7Ytzw
> 
> And this is how I imagine Akira sounds: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XSxXGCUqra4
> 
> Enjoy some cute.


	4. Chapter 4

_Samuel Benjamin Holt’s life changed forever, the night his son Matthew was born._

_Granted, most fathers said that. Watching their mate struggle, seeing the pain and blood and then holding that small person, most fathers knew their life would never be the same again._

_He had been as prepared as any could be. They had known well in advance what they would designate their son as, and had prepared his room. They had gone to all of the training courses in how to care for a newborn. They had the hospital bag prepped and ready almost two months in advance. They had even designated Laura’s best friend, Miku Kogane, as their on-call driver when the time came._

_Given that Sam and Laura lived out on a remote research base in the Four Corners area, it made the most sense. Miku was a test pilot. She could get them to the hospital fastest._

_Laura had handled the initial onset labor well, calling both Sam and Miku to come pick her up. They had a few hours of driving, but the contractions had been far apart when she noticed them. None of them had any genuine panic._

_Sam never quite remembered what came next. Miku had been driving, looking back at Laura as she breathed through a contraction. Sam was doing his best to keep her comfortable- they had warming patches applied to her back and belly but it was still disturbing to see her gasp through pain._

_The next thing he remembered, his head was aching, eyes unable to focus. The car, a sensible Toyota Camry, was on its side with what looked like most of the engine compartment sliced off._

_All of them were wearing seatbelts- Miku was_ fanatical _about safety- but-_

_She spat out broken glass. “Is everyone okay?” Miku croaked. “Laura?” She got out of the belt like she was greased, grunting when she fell. She shrieked, briefly; her shoulder looked like it was dislocated. “Talk to me, sister. Sam. You there? Can you see Laura?”_

_Sam coughed, wiping blood and dirt from his eyes. “She-“ The world tilted again, worse than during the accident, fear rising up to choke him. Then he saw her breathe. Relief sent him spiraling downwards. But she had other injuries, and was also clearly unconscious. “Yes.” He pat her face, trying to rouse her, but she was completely unresponsive. “I think she’s concussed.”_

_Miku growled. He always amused him how a woman barely a hundred and fifty centimeters tall could swear like a sailor and sound like an angry cougar. “You?”_

_He tried to take stock but his eyes refused to focus. One of his arms was numb, and there were pieces of glass in his shoulder. “Not so good.”_

_“Fucking hell,” Miku hissed. “I can’t get the door open.”_

_Cars didn’t explode, except in movies. At any rate, it looked like most of the engine was gone._

_“Your phone?” he asked, before breaking into a cough._

_“No bars.”_

_And it might be hours until another vehicle came through. Hours until emergency services could get a vehicle out to them._

_Adrenaline had kept the worse of the pain at bay, but now he realized he was going into shock._

_The moment was quiet. Still. Just the slow tick of cooling metal, harsh breathing and the sound of night insects in the desert. Heat bled out into the cold air. He heard a soft whimper and realized it was coming from himself._

_Then a bestial snarl cut the silence. Miku’s terrified cursing filling the air, and out of the corner of his eye, Sam Holt saw the impossible. The body was tall, well over two meters, probably close to two hundred and twenty. He blinked, at it as it approached._

_The last thing he remembered before shock and darkness took him was the sight of a purple, angular face and yellow eyes._

_The day Matt Holt was born changed his life, not just because he became a father. It was also the day that he discovered that aliens were real._

~*~*~*~*~

Pidge cracked open the data cube as soon as they got back to the Castle of Lions.

The Resistance had actually done them a solid: not only was it information on the location of her missing family, but also the surrounding system. It took her an hour to process all of what they had sent; by then, the Paladins had finished unloading the supplies that Hunk had bartered for. (She wasn’t quite sure with what, but she wasn’t going to question it. Food with texture was a luxury now.)

They called a meeting, and Pidge took the information with her to the CIC. Most of what was on the data cube was relevant, and for that she was grateful. It was hard to stay focused when all she could think about was seeing her Daddy and her Matty- 

Dad and Matt. She wasn’t five anymore. She was almost an adult, and a Paladin of Voltron. 

And soon she would have them back. She was almost _skipping_ out to the CIC.

She turned out to be the last to arrive. Everyone had changed back into their street clothes. Coran and Allura were standing beside the main control panel, talking about the latest piece of equipment to break down on the Castle. Hunk was having Lance taste test something; Keith was talking quietly to Thace. She frowned. Usually the Galra wore a robe over his coveralls, and she assumed it was because he wanted to look like a Sith. Then- ah hah.

Shiro was curled up in a chair, said robe draped over him. From the soft grunts and high pitched purrs, he was feeding Akira. The big purple guard kitty had positioned himself between Shiro and door with the other Alpha for backup.

She wondered if her own instincts would make her do the same thing if she shifted. Most of the Alphas she knew were nice just… really, really protective of their packs.

“All right,” she said, and walked to the console where Allura and Coran were, popping the cube into the data reader. All around them, the quadrant of space where her brother and father were lit into being. “According to the data, they’re in the main galaxy that this one orbits. The system is used as a fueling and trading hub. It has a star similar to Sol, main sequence yellow dwarf. One small hot Mercury planet, two Super-Earths so big that they don’t have a solid surface, two Jovians and a Neptunian. There is also an extrasolar capture roughly 300 AU away, and it’s dragged a lot of icy bodies in from the star’s Kuiper belt.”

“That’s where my family is,” Pidge went on. “They’re on a mining ship that’s cracking the ices for potable water.”

“So, we go in on Voltron, point Hunk’s cannon at the ship and demand the release of their slaves,” Lance said, slapping the palm of his hand with a fist. “Sounds easy enough.”

“Not a wise move,” Thace interrupted. “There is a training garrison with a defensive fleet stationed in the system, in orbit around one of the moons. The moon itself has no native ecology, but the temperature and gravity are within the tolerances for most carbon-based species. You can go out in shirtsleeves, provided you have a breather. This is the main source of water for the garrison. You attack it, you _will_ draw their attention.”

“So we destroy some Galra ships-“ Pidge began, and shrank when Thace bared his teeth at her.

“This is a _training_ garrison, child.” The Galra’s ears were pinned back, before smoothing his face. “Most of the soldiers here are were drafted for their mandatory military service.”

“Mandatory?” Allura said, frowning. “You press your own people?”

“Yes. Those with Galra parentage are drafted when they finish their primary education, upon reaching adulthood. We do not press children, yet, but… Our population simply cannot keep up. Hence why all those with Galra blood must join a garrison, not just purebloods.” There was quiet after that pronouncement, save for Akira’s coos. Thace looked away. “It is why there are so many drone soldiers now.”

“So basically the ships attacking would be full of half-trained youngsters who would probably panic at the first sign of trouble,” Coran said. “Could we frighten them off?”

“ _Vrepit za_. No. While the rank and file might panic, their commanders would continue pressing the attack or kill them for treason,” Thace replied. 

“That means a head-on attack is out,” Shiro said, from his chair. “So let’s be sneaky. Getting on to a single ship out in the Oort cloud would be hard. Can we coax them out somehow?”

Pidge immediately cracked her knuckles. “I have access to their internal communications.”

“Hm.” Thace’s face relaxed, ears perked up somewhat. “Do you know who the local commander is? I have an idea.”

~*~*~*~*~

“Ah, damn,” Delan said, looking at the scrolling script in front of them.

Matt frowned, looking over. Whatever translator allowed him and his father to understand spoken speech didn’t work written. So he had no idea of what was in front of him. “What’s wrong?” Even after a year of trying to decipher it, he was still functionally illiterate. 

Delan pointed. “This. It looks like you’re being transferred. The local garrison needed some workers and you’ve been conscripted.”

Matt stared at the Galra script blankly. His Dad came over. “Does it say why?”

“Apparently something involving mining volatiles on one of Li Shou’s moons,” Delan said, flicking out xir tongue. “Sucks to be you, berks.”

Sam walked over, peering through his glasses. How his father had managed to keep his, Matt wasn’t sure. Their time in captivity hadn’t been easy on his Dad. He had always been cheerful and easygoing. Now he moved slower, spoke little, and his face and forehead were thickly creased. 

“The garrison work is harder?”

“Bigger asshole for an overseer.”

Matt grimaced. The Resistance had told him that Takashi had escaped, but they couldn’t spring them just yet. They had eyes on them. Whose, they didn’t say. Messages were few and far between. Which meant that, whatever this was, he and his dad were likely on their own. 

Hope was hard to come by these days. He hadn’t given up just yet but… it was getting harder by the day.

A few moments later, some drones came for them. Matt did his best to remain casual and calm, but it was hard when he kept expecting something to jump out at him at any moment. 

“Are these the slaves?” a feminine voice said, coming from one of a pair of Galra half-breed soldiers. She didn’t bother to look at him, as the drones gave her an affirmative. 

“Ahh, the garrison commander will be so happy to have these new slaves! So we can do horrible things to them, of course,” her partner said, clapping his hands together in glee. The female frowned. It was hard to tell their expressions, covered by helmets. “We’ve got so much torture planned!”

The female sighed, before unceremoniously shoving Matt and his Dad onto the ship. “Inside, you.”

“Yes, yes, and no talking! Good slaves shouldn’t talk!” the male said.

Slaves should also be cuffed and bound, Matt noted, a bit hysterically. He shared a look with his dad, wriggling his fingers. Whatever was going on, now was the _perfect_ chance for them to try to escape-

“Now, everyone, belt in,” the female said pleasantly. “Katie would be quite unhappy with us if you were injured while in flight.”

The male closed the doors behind them. “And it looks like we have signed off on all the forms. Complete transference of custody!”

“Who are you?” Sam asked, and Matt moved to stand in front of his Dad. “What’s going on?”

“We don’t have a lot of time, but we’ll explain on the way,” the female promised. “But we really need you to put on your restraints so we can go!”

Both scrambled to obey, the ship taking off almost as soon as the male dropped into the co-pilot’s chair. They held on, holding hands. To Matt’s surprise, they headed toward the inner solar system. 

“Where are we going?” he asked. “Shouldn’t we be _leaving_ this system?”

“We need to make sure they won’t come looking for us,” the female said. “Pidge- I mean Katie- will be waiting.” She paused. “Ah. They said we should tell you something to make you trust us…”

“Oh, yes! I’m Luke Skywalker and I’m here to rescue you!” the male said, beaming. 

“How- Katie-“ his Dad stuttered.

“Commander Holt, I’m sure you have a lot of questions, and we will answer them,” the female said. She was facing the controls, not looking directly at them as she brought the shuttle in for a landing on a nearby moon. “But we’re almost to our destination.” She handed them both a breathing mask. “Follow Coran while I scrub the flight recorder and set the self-destruct.”

“ _What?_ ”

“Tragic, isn’t it? Two useful slaves and two good soldiers, lost in an accident when the engines weren’t properly maintained! Oh, woe is us! To suffocate,” and he stood up, making sure the breathers were on their faces, “out here in the dark!” he said as they trotted followed him out onto the surface of the moon. 

Warm air- gasses, not the typical Terran mix though- blew over his skin as he peered through the mask, following this man out, struggling to keep up. The work of mining ice had been arduous but they sure weren’t doing marathons as they dashed across the bright surface. 

Behind them, he could hear the female’s food steps as she ran to catch up with them. He heard her counting-

“Three… two… one!”

The explosion rocked them from the rear- and ahead, there was a slight shimmer as dust pinged on… something that was invisible. _Invisible_. In the shape of a giant cat head. 

The mouth opened, and a gangplank lowered; all four ran in as quickly as they could. 

_“I have them, team!”_ a familiar voice cried as the cat head closed and they ran further in. _“I have them! Returning to the Castle!”_

Head of them was a chair, clearly the pilot’s seat. All was quiet for a moment as the lion lifted in to space and away from the moon. A few taps later, and the chair turned around.

“Oh dear fucking god.” The figure was tiny, in green, white and black, and Matt would know that face anywhere.

Dad’s hands shook as he brought them to his mouth. “Katie. Kiddo. Oh god. It’s- how- why are you even-“

Matt heard Katie make a sound somewhere between a scream and a cry as she launched herself towards Dad and himself, knocking off her helmet in the process. Her short arms could barely curl around both of them- it didn’t matter. 

Nothing mattered. He was back with his sister and his father was alive and safe and-

“We’re almost there, Pidge,” the female said, pulling off her helmet and shrinking almost half a meter. Matt was dazzled as her skin turned a deep brown from Galra purple, with small pink scales on her face under a cloud white bun. The male took off his helmet as well, and the faint cast of purple on his skin clashed with his brilliant orange hair and mustache. “You’ll need to guide us in.” 

“Pidge?”

“It’s, um, it’s a nickname. We’re almost to the Castle. I promise, we’ll explain everything once we get there,” Katie said, pulling away. Her face was red and blotchy from tears, wiping clear the snot with one hand. 

“I don’t have any tissues, kiddo,” Dad said, touching her face. “Sorry.”

She laughed, weakly, turning back towards the pilot’s chair. She took the controls, steering them in… to a castle.

The ship looked like a literal castle, on its side, hanging in space just inside the Oort cloud of the local star. It shown in the dim light, opening for the lion they were in to descend. 

Both he and his dad were in a daze as they debarked, both of them linking arms with Katie, practically picking her up at the same time. She hadn’t grown much since their departure, but her face was changed. And.

And.

They were free. 

They were _free_. 

And at the bottom of the gangplank was a group of four humans. One looked vaguely familiar… he couldn’t place how. Two he had no idea who they were, but they looked to be between his and Katie’s age. 

And the last was Takashi.

Tall and handsome, his hair going gray in places and with a streak of white in the front. That scar marred his once perfect face, but he still had a chin square enough to inspire envy in super heroes. He was wearing all black, except for his right arm, which was… oh no. 

“Shiro,” Sam said. “Oh my stars and garters. You’re alive.”

The smile on Takashi’s face was sweet and a little shy as he ducked his head, walking forward to take Dad’s hand and shake. “Glad to see you alive, sir. I was worried about you.”

“You and me both.” He pulled Takashi forward into a hug. “Matt told me what you did. Thank you. Thank you for saving Matt.”

“I’d do it again in a heartbeat.”

Matt choked. He rushed forward, colliding with Takashi’s chest and wrapping his arms around him in a bear hug. “You asshole. You could have gotten yourself killed-“

Takashi put his hands on his shoulders, petting his hair. “I know. Thought I would. But it was my job to keep you safe, so I did the only thing I could. I’m sorry I hurt you-“

“Hurt me? _Hurt_ me? I wasn’t the one being sent out to-“

“It’s okay.” He petted Matt’s hair. “Really. I wasn’t alone.” His voice turned soft. “It was hell, but… I wasn’t alone.”

The artificial hand wasn’t warm, but the real one was. His arms were much, much thicker than Matt remembered. His eyes were less innocent, less gentle, but still kind. 

He took a deep breath, and pulled away. Takashi smelled mild and sweet and he couldn’t place why. But that didn’t matter.

He had his family back. He had Takashi back. Maybe, maybe life was starting to look up again.

~*~*~*~*~

_Sam woke up in the hospital, bandaged and aching all over._

_He didn’t remember how he got there. He didn’t know what happened. Flailing, he tried to shout-_

_“Easy, Sam, easy,” a voice called, and Miku crossed his vision. “You just got out of surgery. You had some internal injuries as well as a broken arm they had to fix.”_

_“Laura? Matthew?”_

_“They’re okay.” His head collapsed back into the pillow in relief. “Laura had a bad bump on the head, but she got through labor safely. You actually had it worse than she did. Matthew is healthy, eight point three pounds and twenty inches. Big boy, great set of lungs. Got a birthmark on his left foot. You’ll get to see him soon.”_

_He nodded at her; his head throbbed almost too much to speak, but he tried anyways. “What… what happened?” The last thing he remembered… couldn’t be real. There was no way. It had to be a hallucination._

_He almost talked himself into it, until he caught sight of Miku’s very, very tall shadow. Almost twice her height, he looked slender with big shoulders and long arms. His skin was olive, with violet eyes and dark hair… ethnicity unknown. Latino, Asian, he didn’t look specifically_ anything _beyond tall._

_“Uh, this guy helped us. After I accidentally sideswiped a giant cat.” She glared up at the man, who shrugged a shoulder at her. “His name is Sven. From Sweden.”_

_The purple alien had looked down at him with the same regret he saw on … Sven’s… face._

_“You’re not from around here, are you?”_

_“No, I am not.”_


	5. Chapter 5

“Do you need to use the crypopods?” Coran asked, watching Shiro sling his arm over Matt’s shoulders, who in turn did the same with Pidge and Pidge with their father. Hunk had already given Keith and Lance their own bear hug, and almost all of the humans looked to be the verge of tears. “Other prisoner’s we’ve rescued had lingering health issues.”

“I think that can wait,” Commander Holt said, squeezing his daughter’s shoulders. “I want to enjoy this for a while longer.”

Matthew Holt sniffed loudly, wiping at his face and eyes and nodded. “Same.”

“Okay, all right. I have us a great big reunion dinner planned,” Hunk said. “Just give me another twenty minutes and- Lance!”

Everyone, even Keith, snapped to attention. “Y-yes-“

“You’re my prep-cook, you get the plant-protein drained so we can mix it with the meat we got-“ his grin turned wide. “I found a pseudo-grain, too. Keith, you’re washing it. I think I can manage something like mapo tofu.” He clapped his hands together and dragged his unwilling assistants out. Neither argued too much; seeing this much palatable joy in the room was amazing. 

It was rare that they had an uncomplicated win. Coran wasn’t going to ruin this with details. 

He shared a look with Allura as she watched everyone head out. 

“I’ll do a few wormhole jumps to throw off pursuit,” she offered. Her smile was wistful. “It’s good to see a family reunited.”

“Seems like we’ve been doing that a lot, lately,” Coran added. “We can’t bring back who we lost, but we can help those who are here now, right?”

She turned to him, glancing up deliberately. “Is this your real height?” Her voice trailed off, turning soft. “I’ve only known your Altean body.”

Coran looked down at her, a bit surprised. “Eh? Oh, um, yes. Did happen to get my Grandad’s height.” He stretched. “Been a long time since I took this form.” It was like relaxing a muscle that had been tense for so long that it cramped a bit. “Feels kinda nice.”

Her face was blank, carefully so. “So all this time…”

“Allura,” he said, and sighed at the feeling of _falling_ that came every time he went below his natural height. He slowly pushed his skin tone back from lavender to peach. “It was what was done back then. Half-breeds, quarter-breeds; we had been in contact with Galra for over five hundred years by that time. There were a lot of us, but we still weren’t that welcome in Altean society. So we passed. There were even special treatments to keep a half-breed’s Galra DNA suppressed if the mother didn’t want her family to know.” He shrugged.

“You don’t have to keep doing it.” She looked down at one of her hands, stroking a finger over her cheek and leaving a streak of purple that faded away. “Doesn’t it hurt? Isn’t it frightening, to feel like you’re looking at the wrong face in the mirror?"

Coran took a deep breath. “Not the wrong face. My father’s. I did miss seeing my mum, sometimes. She was lovely, a true queen. But other than the occasional cramp, I never felt bad.”

Allura smiled, but it didn’t reach her eyes. “Thank you, Coran. I’ll go see to those jumps now.”

He watched her go. She looked so much like Alfor it was almost frightening. All of her mother’s grace and her father’s strength of will and charisma. This latest development was… disturbing. He knew the late queen had been a gossip-monger but- he hadn’t realized-

Coran walked out, and stopped in the hall when he realized he wasn’t alone. “You aren’t going to join the others? Hunk’s quite an amazing cook.”

Thace was standing in the corridor, huddled under his robe and looking like a large purple gargoyle. He was looking down towards where Shiro and the others had gone. “I don’t think I have a face they will be happy to see.”

“Come now! You gave us the information to get them out, and helped plan the escape. You’re new to Team Voltron but don’t let that stop you!”

Thace shook his head, looking down, and- ah, he was holding Akira. Coran offered the whelp his finger; he grabbed it solemnly, watching it move with all the pathos of a tragedian, and purred at it. Thace’s typically still expression cracked. “Forcing myself into their celebration would be a distraction at best. At worst, I might cause them to becoming trapped in their memories like Shiro. This is part of his life from before; I’ll let him decide how he wants to bring me in.”

Coran mulled that over. Thace wasn’t wrong on any of those counts. “I understand. Want to come with me to the bridge for a while? We can chat. You might have some questions.”

Thace’s ears twitched. “I don’t think the princess is particularly happy to see me, either. But if you would take Akira, I’ll go to the training deck.” He cracked his neck. “I have been remiss in maintaining my skills as of late.” 

Coran took the half-breed, who made a small whine at the transfer. “She’ll come around. Allura’s got a good heart.”

“I have no doubt. But now is not the time for me to press. Let everyone enjoy the reprieve. It is earned. Contact me if I am required,” Thace said, nodding to Coran before turning on his heel and doing a parade ground march in the opposite direction.

Coran looked down at the baby. “Do you think that could have gone better?” Akira attempted to smile but didn’t quite manage it and instead made a long, somber coo. “Yeah. I thought so, too.”

~*~*~*~*~

Wonder of wonders, it tasted like mapo tofu, and was so spicy Shiro’s eyes watered. The orange grain was more like quinoa than rice, but that was hardly a complaint, and if the tofu substitute was a bit more like marshmallows, who cared? It was a deep pink, oily and tasted spicy. That last was what mattered.

“Yeah, Mom was going crazy, but she _wouldn’t do anything_. She was just- she would lock herself into her office sometimes, and I could hear her crying. So I decided I would.”

Sam’s face was a mix of emotions as Pidge continued telling her story. Horror that his baby girl, at the ripe old age of thirteen, would decide that she would sneak undercover into a training facility for the Galaxy Garrison in order to investigate what was happening. That she would actually be successful at uncovering the conspiracy to keep the what happened to the Kerberos mission a secret, or that she would be able to listen in on unsecured Galra communications. Horror, and no small amount of wonder and pride.

Matt was cackling like a howler monkey. “Can you just imagine Iverson’s _face?_ That baboon-“

“He deserves some respect, Matt,” Sam said. He sounded tired. “Earth isn’t ready for aliens, and you can just imagine the mass panic that would happen if the truth about what’s out here came to light.”

“What, Dad, you wanted to keep this covered up?” Pidge asked, incredulous. “If I hadn’t broken in I would never have found out what happened to you!”

Sam took off his glasses and rubbed his eyes, wiping away tears. “Kiddo, he was in an impossible position and there were no good answers. He couldn’t have rescued us even if he tried.” His lips trembled. “So thank you for coming after us.”

“Dad…” She got to her feet, sniffing, and grabbed his hand, squeezing. 

Matt was smiling at them, putting his hand over theirs, and…

Shiro swallowed hard, looking at them. It was a personal moment, one that he shouldn’t be intruding on. He was aware, painfully, that his mate wasn’t in the room. Keith and Lance had already left, saying something about bonding exercises. Hunk was sitting across from him, so he caught Hunk’s eye. Together they gathered up the remaining dishes and took them to the kitchen.

Matt caught his sleeve as he passed by. “You don’t have to leave.”

Shiro tried to smile. “You three have a lot to catch up on.” Matt didn’t let go. “We can talk later.” Shiro tried to tug free, and finally Matt released him. 

Hunk frowned, before they went into the kitchen. Together they washed the dishes. “I’m glad that Pidge got her family back,” Hunk murmured, softly, listening to faint hiss of voices out in the dining room. “She needs this.”

“Me too. It’s scary, not knowing if your family is alive or dead,” and right now, he wanted his. His chest was starting to feel heavy and tight, and he wanted Thace’s arm over his shoulders, to listen to him purr. “Hell. Except for Keith, we’ve all got family back on Earth. And it’s not like any of us have been able to send any messages.”

Hunk hummed and nodded. “Maybe it’s time we headed back. I don’t know.”

Shiro smiled, and slapped Hunk on the shoulder. “Sounds… well. Not a bad idea.” He looked down at himself; he wasn’t leaking yet. “I need to head out. Can you finish up?”

Hunk looked at the kitchen: all leftovers put away, all the dishes were the washing machine and only a few utensils left to dry. “No prob.”

“Thanks.”

He strode out, one hand reaching up to massage his pecs; the ache wasn’t bad yet but soon it would be. He had a few guesses where Thace might be; when he wasn’t in their room he was haunting either the library or the-

-Several loud crashes and a snarl cut the silence as Shiro passed the training room. 

“And, there he is.”

He opened the door, and paused in the entrance to enjoy the view.

Thace was taking on four gladiator bots at once. He was surrounded, one on each side, with the remains of a dozen or so other bots on the deck. He breathed through his teeth, growling deep in his chest, holding his sword out and forward. His chest was bare, coveralls pulled down with the sleeves died around his waist. He looked savage.

Shiro licked his lips as his mouth watered. He was sexy as hell. 

The one behind Thace attacked, and the Galra dodged, letting it collide with the one in front of him, attacking the one on his left. He just as quickly dispatched the one on his right in two moves, then raced forward, kicking the two tangled bots and taking out the legs of the one on the right, the head off the one the left, and slicing through the middle of legless one and-

He turned, looking at Shiro, who had wandered closer. He tossed his sword-

Which Shiro caught and instinctively slashed behind himself, catching the gladiator bot that was sneaking up on him.

Shiro tossed the sword to its owner, and suddenly he and Thace were back to back and-

The bots didn’t stand a chance. 

They fought two more rounds, sword going back and forth between them; Shiro never had to use his arm. 

“ _Simulation complete_ ,” the voice of the computer told them. “ _Do you wish to advance to the next level?_ ”

“No,” Thace said, and Shiro looked up at him, chuckling, solemn mood completely gone. He had forgotten how _good_ it felt to fight with Thace. 

“Ah, come on, Big Guy, we were just getting started,” Shiro teased. Thace’s hand was on the small of his back, while Thace loomed over him. His chest was aching and tight, shirt soaked with milk and sweat, and the crotch of his pants was sloppy wet. He leaned into Thace’s side. It felt, honestly, amazing. “Don’t tell me you’re tired already.”

“We are not finished yet,” his lover purred. He could see the outline of Thace’s erection, thick and heavy, making the front of his coveralls bulge. Thace balled up the hem of Shiro’s shirt and vest, yanking it over his head, before sinking to his knees.

The _relief_ as Thace suckled his tits had him coming, quivering as Thace held him upright. “Hmm.” His arms were draped over Thace’s shoulders, dragging through his fur. “Sexy fucking bastard.” Thace purred, sharp teeth making his nipples sting before soothing them with his velvet tongue. Shiro pulled back, and finished stripping off his clothes, and reached down for Thace’s coveralls, freeing his erection. He brushed their lips together, then pushed Thace backwards and knelt between his legs. “No one should be looking for us for a while.” He leaned down, kissing the base and drawing a line up the side of Thace’s cock with his tongue and lips. He gave Thace a shit-eating grin as he kissed the tip.

“Then let’s enjoy it,” Thace answered, threading his fingers through Shiro’s hair and guiding him down.

~*~*~*~*~

How long Matt talked with his family, he didn’t know. They talked about old times, good memories. The first time that he and Katie had built a computer together. Their mother beating Matt at video games. Katie learning how to skateboard. Mentioning those times he brought Takashi home with him, their antics during training.

Nothing about the abduction. Nothing about the slave pits or the ice cracking rig. All of it carefully avoiding the worst of the memories.

Katie talked about her time in the Garrison (he really wanted to talk more with Lance and Hunk- get their side of the story- because some of those stories were _hilarious_ ), about how she and her friends had snuck out on the night that Takashi had escaped back to Earth. 

“How did he escape?” Dad finally asked, fiddling with his glasses on his nose. “We had tried, before, but stealing a pod was almost impossible.”

Matt perked up as Katie cringed, eyes widening as she blew out a long breath. “Uh. Well. I’m not sure if I should be the one telling that story…”

Dad’s face was pained. “I can barely imagine…”

Katie looked away. “I’ll leave the details to Shiro. It’s pretty personal. But he had help getting out. When he got to us, most of his memories of the past year were gone.” She looked down, then back up to Matt. “Did he really attack you keep you from fighting that gladiator?”

Matt’s breath caught, before he nodded. “I thought he had lost his mind. But then I realized what he was doing and I just… I couldn’t believe it. He sacrificed himself to save me.”

“How did it heal up?” she asked in a small voice. “I mean, it had to be bad enough to keep you from fighting…”

Matt grimaced. “Still aches when I’m out in the cold. But I suppose it could have been worse. Dad and I saw some of Shiro’s matches.”

“We can ask Coran and Allura if the cryopods can fix you up,” Katie said, cheerfully. “They’ll be able to help something, I’m sure.” She fiddled with her glasses- which he knew very well were his old ones, she must have gotten fake lenses or her eyes would go to shit- and sighed. “At any rate, Shiro didn’t remember that and nearly freaked out when someone told him he had tried to hurt you. Typical Space Dam. Can’t forgive himself for saving someone.”

“You mentioned he had help escaping,” Dad said, tapping his fingers on the table, grinding out the words cautiously. “Who was it?”

“Right. This is when the story starts getting complicated. They paired him up with an old officer that they had kicked out-“

“General Agamen Thace?”

“Yeah- how did you know?” Katie asked, perking up. 

“Gladiator matches are broadcast throughout the Empire,” Dad said quietly. “We got to see Shiro in a few. We asked who was fighting with him.”

“Delan and most of the half-breeds hated the guy,” Matt added. “They booed whenever they saw him, liked it when he took a hit.”

Katie scowled. “Assholes.”

“Katie, language!”

“They are!” she said, thumping her fist on the table. Matt blinked- she looked so much like a tiny Alpha right then- before raising his hands. 

“Hey. All they knew was that he was the head of the armies that conquered the area.” She snorted and looked away. “He was the face of the Galra. Watching him hurt made them feel better because their own lives are miserable.”

“Yeah. He was thrown into the arena because his kids were part of the Resistance. AND, oh, BY THE WAY! They were killed for it! SO THEY WERE _BOOING_ THE PEOPLE TRYING TO HELP THEM!” Her voice kept rising. 

“They were… killed?” Dad said, voice very low. He blinked rapidly as his eyes turned glossy. “I see. It didn’t seem to… ” He took his glasses off again, and pinched the bridge of his nose. He made a long sigh. “I should have realized.”

“Dad?” Katie asked. 

“It’s… I think the excitement of the day is starting to get to me.” His shoulders hitched. “I think I need some time to rest. Matt, if you’re still feeling full of vim and vigor, please don’t worry on my account. I think I just need some time alone.”

“Yeah. Sure. We have some room set up for you down the hall from the rest of us,” Katie said, getting up from her seat at the table. “I’ll show you.”

“Thanks, kiddo.”

They followed her through the endless corridors and hallways of the massive ship. It made him slightly crazy, thinking about how much space was wasted on the Galra cruisers and this Castle. But they did eventually come to their destination. 

It was an actual room: an actual bed, an actual dresser and drawers and an actual bathing room and toilet in the back. “Yours is right next door,” she said, pointing to another door. “We’re down the hall.” She pointed further down. “Shiro’s further out. He needed the privacy.”

Matt lifted an eyebrow at that. 

Dad just nodded at her, before giving Katie a kiss on the forehead. “You have grown so much. You’re more amazing than I could have ever thought, Katie. I’m so proud of you for finding us, for helping your team.”

Katie’s eyes watered as she was pulled close for a hug. “I love you, Dad.”

“I love you too, sweetheart.”

They pulled apart, eventually, and Dad smiled at her one last time before shooing her and Matt away, saying he would see them in the morning. The door closed.

“He looks so old,” Katie whispered. “Are dads allowed to do that?”

“We all get old, Katie.” He ruffled her hair. “Let him.”

She rolled her eyes. “So. You want to stay up and talk some more or you need a break?”

“I think I’m good for a while longer.” He stretched. His back was a bit sore from sitting for so long, but otherwise he was okay. Better than okay. He was _free_ , he was with his family and Takashi and… hope tasted so good.

“Want the cheap tour?” she offered. “We can swing by the bridge, see if Keith and Lance have finished, um, ‘bonding’ for the night.”

“Sounds good! This ship is incredible.”

“Eh. She’s ten thousand six hundred years old, according to Coran,” Katie said. “Come on. The bridge is this way.”

She kept talking, and talking, an endless barrage of happy, snarky chatter that he barely had to nod at to keep going. “And this is the bridge.”

Massive screens gave the illusion of looking out at the endless black, showing the stars as they once used to be: distant, cold, unknowable and beautiful. So beautiful. Once the mystery of those stars had called him. Now… well. The shine no longer appealed.

The female and male he had met earlier, though, they were interesting. “And did we get you all introduced? There’s food left in the kitchen. Anyways, Matt, this is Princess Allura of Altea.” The beautiful woman nodded graciously towards him. He had seen her shapeshift before, so he had no idea if this was her usual form… but she had no reason to not be herself, either. In one of the chairs nearby was the male, who had shrunk from the last time Matt had seen him.

“And this Coran, who is… well, basically the guy who keeps the Castle running, really.” She stood on her tiptoes. “Just don’t eat his cooking.”

He stood up. “I heard that!” He was also holding…

“Holy shit. Is that a cub?” he asked, stepping backwards. “What-“

“Ooh. Um. Uh.” Katie’s eyes darted around. “Well. So. They’re not here right now?” she asked, and Coran shook his head. “Shit. Um. Yeah. This is… Akira.”

He opened his mouth. Closed it. Walked a few steps closer, staring at the cub. 

Purple fur, pointed ears, black hair and slate-gray eyes. It stared back at him, before attempting a smile which resulted in a raspberry and drool running down it’s chin.

“You silly,” Coran said, patting the cub with a towel. “He’s trying to be charming, I think. He’s got quite a ways to go.”

“I don’t know. He gets better at smiling and we might have a weapon that could melt even Zarkon’s heart,” Katie said, walking up and tapping the cub’s nose. “Yes you are! Yes you are! Weaponized cute right here!”

“Is that a Galra half-breed?” Matt looked up at Coran. “Is it yours?”

Coran looked over at Katie. “No one’s told him yet?”

“Told me what?”

“It’s not my right to tell,” Katie said. “I mean…”

“What’s going on?” He felt he should be putting two and two together to get eight but he was tired, frustrated and getting very unhappy.

Katie swallowed. “You know the druids?” At Matt’s nod, she twiddled her fingers. “They made Shiro shift. He’s an Omega now. This is his cub.”

“What?” he couldn’t have heard that right. “They… why?”

“Several reasons. Partially because Shiro was a great gladiator. Mixing his blood with a strong Galran bloodline would make for some improved soldiers,” Coran said, stroking the cub’s head. Matt kept looking at it. He felt like it was about to jump out of Coran’s arms and attack. “And great blackmail, if they needed a way to control him.”

Katie grimaced.

“So you’re saying they forced him to- they _made_ Takashi-“ Matt’s eyes went wild as he covered his mouth with his hands, trying to keep from gagging. The idea of-

“It’s more complicated than that.” Katie put her hand on Matt’s shoulder and squeezed. “It’s a lot more complicated than that. But yeah. It wasn’t exactly Shiro’s choice, but… he loves Akira. We can let him fill in the details.”

Matt swallowed, evens as the cub looked in his general direction and waved its hands at him, and moaned. Katie poked its cheek. “Ah, it’s okay little guy…”

“I need to go,” he croaked. “Just. I need to go.”

Katie drew back. “Want me to take you back-“

Matt shook his head. “I need to wrap my head around this. I’ll find my way back.”

Katie nodded. “I get it. We all felt awful for Shiro when we found out.”

Matt gave her a weak smile before he turned to leave. His head spun in confusion as he left. 

Takashi. Cub. The Galra had- nausea sat low on his stomach as he tried to process what happened. His smell had been sweet- oh god. 

The Galra enjoyed brutalizing people. Breaking them. Trying to destroy their spirits. His imagination went wild, filling in details he didn’t have yet. If he wasn’t careful he really would make himself sick.

He didn’t even realize he had gotten lost. Not until he found himself outside a door-

A muffled moan and shriek came from inside. 

It sounded like Takashi.

Matt’s mouth went dry as shuffled to the door, opening it and-

The floor was covered in detritus. Whatever had happened, Takashi had put up a good fight. Matt’s brain went blank in panic at the sight: Takashi, on his hands and knees, one hand covering his mouth while the other clawed at the ground, and the huge Galra behind him gripping his hips. Wet, loud slaps echoing through the room as he thrust into Takashi like a piston. 

It was his fucking nightmare come to life in front of him. Without hesitation, he shrieked for help, before grabbing a weapon off the floor and charging.


	6. Chapter 6

Thace had been honest with Coran about his reasons for not following Shiro into the dining room. He wore the same face as their tormentors, and they had just arrived. Better to let them celebrate, to feel rested and safe, before being introduced into their lives. Better to not be the new face on their nightmares for at least a night.

He knew he should have taken Coran’s offer of conversation. It wasn’t that he didn’t want to talk about Coran’s revelation of being Galra-blooded. It wasn’t that he didn’t want to learn more about his people’s distant past. Of course he did. 

But the last few days of searching through Mayth’s memories had scraped the scabs off his grief to bleed again. He wanted to distract himself, but he didn’t think he could handle Allura’s needling and barbs. She had a right to her own grief but he wasn’t in a state to handle her with any grace. So he asked Coran to take Akira so he could distract himself. Thrashing bots seemed to be the best thing for him to do.

He went to the training deck, cast off his robe and pulled off the top of the coveralls- the shoulders restricted his movements- and tied the sleeves around his waist. He set the level to six, minimum of two opponents with a maximum of six. Swinging his arms to loosen them, he picked up a practice sword and took a guard position, trying to force the frustration and grief away, empty his mind. It didn’t work. 

The gladiator bots dropped onto the deck, and they took on faces: Sendak, Zarkon, himself. He crashed into them, taking heads and limbs, dodging and weaving, but all he could see were the people he hated most. 

He wasn’t sure how long he had been fighting when Shiro walked in, but his muscles were warm and his chest burned. He was aware of Shiro lingering at the door, watching him. Every line of him was relaxed and pleased. 

Thace _may_ have started using flashier moves when Shiro came in. He did enjoy Shiro’s gaze. 

The scent of Shiro’s arousal quickly filled the room, distracting him, but when he saw a bot sneaking up on him (when had Shiro gotten so close?) he tossed his blade to the human who slashed behind him. It was a move they had used a dozen times in the arena, when one of them had been disarmed. 

Then the combat went from purely exercise to… something more. 

Watching someone’s back and trusting that person to watch your own was thrilling; having Shiro help cover his weaknesses and being able to do the same was intoxicating. Knowing that Shiro was getting as aroused as he was?

That was a recipe for disaster.

They were in a public area. He knew that. But when Shiro looked up at him like that, eyes dark and heavy, cheeks flushed, loose-limbed and happy, smelling wet and willing, the idea of saying wait seemed impossible. They were safe. This wasn’t the arena. They weren’t going to be dragged out to fight at any minute. What was the harm?

It certainly didn’t help that Shiro always tasted amazing, his lips and tits were warm and creamy and he loved the sounds he made, loved his mews and moans, wanting to make him scream-

And that wicked smirk on his face when he pushed Thace back blew most thought from his mind entirely. He knew, in the back of his mind, that anything longer than oral was a bad idea. Knotting would be supremely stupid right now, even if Shiro had smelled so very ripe right then. 

He always did. It was… _distracting_.

So he didn’t object when Shiro shoved his trousers to his ankles, stepping out of them and his boots, and laid out on his hands and knees, ass in the air and looking over his shoulder at Thace, biting his bottom lip. With his metal fingers, he parted his pussy-lips, showing off his hole. “Want it like this, please?”

Thace nodded, sitting up and pulling Shiro back, taking hold of the base of his cock, easing his way inside. He pulled back, and Shiro protested, whining under his breath. Thace laughed a little, breathless, pushing back in and picking up speed.

He nearly roared when Shiro came, listening to him shriek and then try to cover his mouth- he moved faster-

And that was when the door opened, and a figure appeared, howling something almost unintelligible. The figure picked up a weapon- a broken sword- and _charged-_

Thace curled around Shiro instinctively, snarling when the blade sank into his left shoulder and stuck there.

“Matt!“ Shiro yelped in surprise, coming off of Thace’s cock. “Matt, wait!”

“Get off of him you son of a bitch!” the human said, trying to pull the blade out, and kicking Thace in the ribs when he couldn’t pull it free. Thace stayed hunched over- he wasn’t letting anyone else hurt Shiro-

Except that Shiro was scrambling away, out from under him and slamming into the other human, grabbing his neck and making him scream in pain as the hand turned bright. Thace looked up- and threw himself at Shiro-

His left arm wasn’t working, but he managed to haul Shiro back.

“You’re fine, you’re all right,” he said to Shiro, in his ear, purring in distress. “It’s-“

“They hurt you!” Shiro said, eyes wide and unseeing. Matt’s eyes were just as wide, staring in shock at his friend and now attacker. “They hurt you, they take me again-“

“Shhh. It’s okay,” Thace kept saying into his ear, trying not to touch the glowing arm and refusing to growl in pain. He did his best to speak in Shiro’s native tongue. “ _Seifu. Daijoubu.” You’re safe. It’s all right._

“No- they’ll come for me-“

“Let him go!” Matthew Holt snarled, before doubling over coughing, and sliding down the wall. “You- don’t-“

Thace ignored him, kept purring and murmuring to Shiro, telling him to focus on where he was: they were on the Castle, Akira was safe, can you hear my voice? I’m here, it’s okay-

Shiro let go of the charge on his arm, letting it turn cool as his breath come in short, hitched gasps. Thace saw the other human staring at Shiro, eyes wild and horrified as he took in Shiro’s naked body.

A second later, footsteps pounded through the corridor.

“Holy shit- oh hell, what the fuck?” Pidge said, babbling as she took in what was in front of her. “I- Matt. MATT?”

She ran in and knelt next to her brother, staring at his throat. “Oh my god.” The red, blistered shape of a handprint was quite visible on his pale skin. Then she turned to Shiro, who had started shaking against Thace’s chest.

Thace was barely able to hold him up. Probably because he was having trouble keeping _himself_ up.

“Why are you- Oh fuck.” Realization sparked in her eyes. He saw her eyes travel from Shiro’s pale and sweating face, to the sword sticking out of Thace’s shoulder, to her brother’s throat and to their nude bodies. “Oh fuck. Oh fuck. What the hell-“ But she didn’t freeze. She grabbed Thace’s discarded robe and draped it over him as his knees started to tremble. She got under his good arm; she couldn’t really do much to prop him up, but she had her arm around his waist. “Oh hell. Shiro. He’s too heavy! Shiro, snap the hell out of it as we can get your Galra to the infirmary! Matt, get off your ass!”

“But it- it was hurting Shiro-“ Matt wheezed, struggling to his feet.

“He wasn’t,” Shiro whispered. He could tell the moment that Shiro started to regain more control of himself, and the relief made Thace’s knees wobble. Or it may have been the pain. Both were good candidates. Shiro moved under his good arm, displacing the little queen. “He wasn’t. Come on, we have to go.”

“I’ve,” Thace offered, then groaned. “I’ve had worse.” 

“Not what we’re talking about, Thace!” Shiro said, voice edging towards hysterical. “Can you walk?”

“I think so.” Maybe. His pride wouldn’t let him say no.

“Matt, get over here!” the little queen hollered. Her brother came over, staring at Thace like he might eat him. He was too scrawny, honestly. He preferred beasts with more meat. Gnawing his bones would be too much trouble.

A gray fog was starting at the edge of his vision when another small body braced him on his bad side. “Go get Coran, Pidge,” Shiro ordered. “We’re going now.”

~*~*~*~*~

Matt’s thoughts ran in a tiny little mouse wheel, the same thoughts passing by over and over again.

Galra were monsters. That was true. Everyone knew that. Everyone was terrified of them. People with Galra blood were ashamed of their ancestry. Yet even now, he was watching Takashi fuss over the Galra, the same beast that had been-

His mind still shuddered away from the image of what he had seen. He stood there, frozen, as Takashi helped the Galra to sit on one of the examination tables in the infirmary. Coran and the Princess had beaten them there, and now his sister was holding the cub while they worked the machinery. Watching Takashi -still naked, still _uncaring_ that he was naked- cradle the Galra’s head to his chest and stroke his hair, unafraid of its teeth, while the princess pulled free the broken sword made him feel like he had swallowed ground glass. 

Galra were monsters. He knew that. That went without saying. Galra were monsters. They destroyed worlds, had kidnapped and tortured them all, had forced Takashi to fight and to kill for their entertainment while enslaving himself and his Dad… 

Galra blood was a deep purple-red, and it poured from the wounds before the princess and Takashi put pressure on both sides, and helped walk the barely conscious monster to the cryo-refresher. 

Galra were monsters. Takashi was covered in scars. His arm had been replaced. They had taken one of the kindest people Matt had ever met and turned him into an attack dog in the arena. They had changed someone who had been barely able to speak of being an in-between into an _Omega_. Takashi had hated being touched before. He couldn’t have been _willingly_ letting one touch him. It didn’t make any sense. He had been forced to become an Omega, been forced to bear that _thing_ Katie was holding. 

“What the quiznak were you two thinking?” the princess said, once the Galra was in the pod, jabbing a finger at Takashi’s chest. Then she threw a sheet at him, which he caught one handed. 

He knew how Takashi had looked after they had left for Kerberos. There was no such thing as privacy on the _Orpheus_. He had been lean and strong, with a few old scars from childhood but nothing like the slashes, the raised wheals, the puckers and gouges he wore now. The skin around his navel was still soft, covered in silvery stretch marks. His chest was swollen and puffy, and…

Takashi wrapped himself up in the sheet, looking down at the deck as he did so.

Matt looked away, feeling sick. 

“I think it was pretty obvious what we were _thinking_ , Princess,” Takashi answered, slowly. “Not much. I went looking for Thace, found him training and joined in.” His face was still, staring at the deck. “We got carried away. Coran had Akira, and everyone was busy. It was late.” His eyes were wet. “I… I should have thought it through better.” He rubbed at his eyes, bringing them up to look at the cryo-refresher. 

Allura sighed and pinched the skin between her brows. “I’ll erase the security recordings. You are aware those exist, yes?”

Takashi chuckled weakly. “It’s not like you haven’t already seen just as much in my memories.” Allura crossed her arms and snorted in embarrassment.

Katie sidled up to him, still holding the cub, and Matt flinched. “You okay?” she asked, looking up through her glasses. “You haven’t said anything.”

Matt swallowed. “Talking hurts,” he said. And it did. He could feel tiny blisters popping up on his neck over the bruises.

“Do you need treatment?” Coran asked from beside the controls, reaching towards a drawer.

Matt shook his head. He looked down at the Galra blood on his hands. “I’ll be okay.”

“I’m sorry, Matt,” Takashi said, coming over and looking at his throat. “I- I saw Thace was hurt and I-“

“You tried to strangle me,” Matt said flatly. “You tried to strangle me and you burned me.”

Takashi looked up to meet his eyes. “We should have locked the door or gone back to our room. I get that, and I’m sorry for embarrassing you and, um, everyone. And we should have told you that we had a Galra on board. Thace and I had talked about it. He thought it might be better if you had time to recover before we told you about him. I went along with it because we had no idea what your mental state would be immediately after getting here.” He exhaled. “But that doesn’t mean you had to hurt him.”

“I saw my best friend being-“ Matt’s lips twisted. “ _Assaulted_. By a Galra. Right after I learned that they made you-“ his eyes darted towards the cub, who was awake and kicking its feet. “They turned you into an Omega bitch for their disposable freaks.”

Takashi looked like he had been slapped, while Coran and Allura both flinched in the background. Katie’s eyes were bugged out. 

“Matt- that’s- why-“

“That’s what they do with their half-breeds. They throw them on the front lines to get slaughtered. You know that, right?” Matt said, hands clenching into fists. “They treat them like they’re garbage to be thrown away. The Empire takes them and raises them to be good little tin soldiers then send them out as cannon fodder.”

Takashi made a small noise. “What are you-“

“You never wanted _anyone_ to touch you before we left,” Matt went on, bitterly. “It’s fucked up, Takashi. Anyone made a move on you? You treated them politely until they went away. Being an Omega? The mere _mention_ had you fleeing the room. And now you’re willingly spreading your legs for an alien that would happily destroy our species?”

Takashi’s face hardened, while Katie looked sick. “It’s a lot more complicated than that,” Takashi answered. “A lot more complicated. I love Thace, Matt. He was there for me through the worst of the arena, and afterwards. The druids took my regulator and somehow forced me to shift, yes. But when I told Thace I didn’t want to get pregnant,” and here he stumbled. “He nearly died keeping them off me.” He reached out, and Katie put the cub in his arms, who promptly smiled up at its dam. “He didn’t touch me until I said I wanted him to.”

“And how much can an Omega _in heat_ say no?” Matt replied. “You would have given in eventually.” He crossed his arms, swallowing hard. 

“You think I don’t know that?” Takashi tickled the cub’s chin and got a few smiling, breathy gasps and flailing limbs in answer. “But by then I knew I wanted Thace’s children. Even before the heat.”

“And why is that?” Matt answered. “You didn’t even know you _could_.”

“ _Because I always wanted to!_ ” Takashi yelled, and the sudden noise made the cub jump and start to cry. He awkwardly tried to keep the sheet on while comforting the cub, cradling it and humming. 

The entire sight made Matt grit his teeth.

“You always wanted to- to- _this_? To be some bitch for a Galra half-breed puppy mill?” he said, trying not to choke. 

“I wanted to shift,” Takashi whispered, brokenly, like it tore him to say it. He shifted the cub to wipe his eyes. His voice turned hoarse. “I loved piloting. I loved space. But… everything felt wrong and weird inside. But I knew who I had to be and I couldn’t change it even when I wanted to tear my skin off.” He smoothed the cub’s hair, kissing it. “So _yes_ , I knew before that first heat. So don’t insult me by saying I didn’t know what I wanted.” He pulled the sheet around himself and the cub. His chest hitched as he breathed. “I’m going to go clean up. We can talk later, when you’ve got your head out of your ass.”

Matt closed his eyes as Takashi walked away. He felt Katie tug his arm a moment later to follow her out.

He couldn’t bring himself to say another word the rest of the night.


	7. Chapter 7

_Miku had looked away just for a moment._

_It shouldn’t have been a big deal. They were driving on a road so straight it could have been a zero on the Kinsey scale. In the past two years, the biggest roadkill she had seen was a tortoise._

_She was also worried as hell. She had known Laura since they were kids, back when Laura had been Lawrence. In-betweens, especially ones that shifted late, could have complicated deliveries. Most of the statistics she had read said that Omegas who had started off as in-betweens usually choose to be induced so that they would be smaller cubs or have a c-section. She had recommended that Laura do the same. Laura had patted her on the cheek and said she was looking for a conspiracy where there was none; full term meant that Matthew would be healthier and surgery wouldn’t be necessary._

_Maybe so, but if they died on the way to the hospital, it was all a moot point._

_So when Laura had groaned in pain, she had risked looking back._

_She hadn’t seen the tall figure crossing the road ahead of her. She hadn’t seen it draw a sword and jump, reflexively, out of the way, slashing the vehicle that would have run it over._

_She did, however, see the tall figure -unnaturally tall- come out of the dusk, looking down at her as she struggled to get to her best friend and her friend’s husband. The doors of the cab were stuck, and the car itself was flipped over. Her phone had no bars._

_Her only weapon was a flare gun, which was in the trunk. She hadn’t anticipated wild animals._

_Or – or- whatever the hell this was._

_Sam was going into shock and losing blood. Laura was unconscious. Her shoulder was dislocated, forearms slashed from the broken glass, but most of it felt shallow. She had been injured worse._

_She couldn’t stop cursing as it approached. Tall, gangly, with purple fur and yellow eyes that looked down at her unblinking. Its lips moved, but she couldn’t understand if it was speaking or not._

_It seemed to be scowling at them. She saw that it was holding its left arm awkwardly, pulled to its chest._

_Then, it took a deep breath and reached down, tearing free the car door with a snarl and hiss of effort._

_Without hesitation she wiggled free and out of the car, running out and around to Laura and checking her pulse. It was steady. Sam, she could tell, was still breathing._

_That didn’t solve the problem of getting help. And the… whatever the hell it was… was walking away from her._

_“Hey,” she croaked. She spat, getting rid of the leftover dust and glass from her mouth. “Hey- you.”_

_It ignored her._

_“Hey, you! YOU! Purple- cat- thing! I’m talking to you!”_

_It kept walking._

_Miku reached down, grabbed a rock and lobbed it at the thing’s head._

_Given that she wasn’t quite seeing straight, it missed, sailing over its shoulder._

_It stopped. Turned around. It stalked close to her, walking in a measured, methodical way that spoke of great control and training and fuck this was one of the most stupid things she had ever done. It was huge- it had to be at least seven feet tall, if not bigger- and the face was completely alien._

_“HEY! YOU- YOU!” she kept yelling, though her throat felt raw. “YOU CAN’T JUST WALK AWAY! WE NEED YOUR HELP!”_

_It stopped, looming over her. Getting a better look, she mentally shifted it to ‘he’ because everything about it coded as ‘he,’ from the broad shoulders to what looked to be a_ completely _proportional codpiece in his weird dark armor, with thick, shaggy sideburns and fur-like hair cover his big cat ears. His armor was covered by a surcoat in mottled red and black. His sword was sheathed in the small of his back, and a small dagger was strapped to his leg._

_An alien cosplayer. Well. Why not?_

_“We’re stuck out here, and my friend. She’s pregnant. Her cub is coming and if we don’t get to a hospital she is going to die.”_

_He kept staring at her. She clutched her arm._

_“It’s your goddamn fault this happened, you asshole,” she finally snarled, adrenaline starting to wane. “I don’t know how you broke the car but-“_

_He turned away from her. “HEY! DON’T LEAVE WHILE I’M TALKING TO YOU!” she screamed into the night as he disappeared._

_She nearly collapsed right there. If she started walking she might find the next town by daybreak. But by then Sam would have bled out, and Laura might not survive childbirth. Matthew might never get to his first breath. She had failed them._

_The silence of the cold night was broken by her frustrated scream of despair._

_She did the only thing she could, then. She turned toward the road and started walking. Maybe she could get to an area where she could pick up some bars before her phone battery died. Maybe someone else would come along and she could wave them down._

_She tried not to think about the fact that she had just met someone who was clearly not human and lived to tell the tale._

_Well._ Lived _was a big maybe._

_She had made it about half a mile down the road when she heard a loud whine like a jet coming down the road._

_Miku turned, peering, hoping that it was someone with a car, a bike,_ anyone- __

_“Holy shit,” she said faintly as a vehicle she had never seen before in her life parked itself beside her. It resembled a hoverbike with a wagon behind it. A wagon that happened to have her two unconscious friends in it._

_She stared at it, and at the alien, who was straddling the bike and looking at her silently._

_She looked back at her friends. Then back at the alien. And she wondered if she was losing her mind._

_“Are you coming?” he asked, holding out the hand that wasn’t curled into a fist and pulled to his chest. She blinked at him, realizing that while she had understood what he said, his lips and mouth had been speaking a language never uttered on Earth before._

_His hand was larger than a catcher’s mitt, and it swallowed her own as she took it, barely able to wrap her fingers around two of his. She found herself pulled into his lap, hearing a soft hiss as she settled against him; he was warm against the cold night, smelled like a mix of spice and autumn leaves._

_“Who are you?” she asked as she was hauled up. “_ What _are you?” The arm with the clenched fist wrapped around her middle._

_“My name is meaningless to you.” The deep voice rumbled in the chest behind her as the bike-thing sped forward. “And as to what, hope that you never know.”_

~*~*~*~*~

Sam was awakened from a deep sleep by an insistent thumping on the door.

His mind went through the typical checklist of possibilities that occurred to a person just waking up from a sound sleep: who am I, where am I, why is the door on the other side of the room, for the love of god where are my pants and has someone drawn a dick on my face? Some would have said he was too old for that but they didn’t know his kids.

Well, that was the pre-Kerberos mission checklist. Now it included guards coming in to drag him back to the druids. Most of his nightmares included some version of them carding their talons through his brain again, pulling out anything and everything he knew about the Garrison. About… about his friends.

Waking up to know that he lived in a universe where that had happened could be hard.

But someone was pounding on his door early, and he had a good idea of who it might be.

So he fumbled for his glasses, swung his legs off the bed, got to his feet and shuffled to the door, touching the panel on the side. 

Katie nearly knocked on his chest. Her eyes were wet, glasses gone and looking all of fourteen and the world stopped making sense. 

“Hey, kiddo.” 

“Dad.” She shifted her weight back and forth, sniffling, tangling her fingers in knots. “I… I know you just got back, but… I need to talk to you.”

Sam spread his arms in invitation, which she took, dropping her forehead against his chest and he put his hands on her shoulders.

“Dad is glad to be back in business,” he told her, and let her come inside, sitting her on the bed. If they had been back on Earth, he would have already been making her a cup of hot cocoa. If this was Earth, well, a lot would be different. Laura would be with him; he missed her fiercely. All he could do now was listen.

So listen he did, as Katie started to talk, rambling about what had happened to Shiro in the past year. It seemed that the druids had chosen to remove his inhibitor and force his body to shift, but it also seemed that he had fallen in love with the Galra who had become his partner.

“Hm. That was Agamen Thace, yes?” he asked her when she stopped to breathe. “I shouldn’t be surprised.”

She nodded, then tilted her head to the side. “Why does that matter?”

“I’ll tell you later.” He would, eventually. If father of the clan was here, he deserved to know what his kids had been doing, and what they died for.

“O… kay.” She gave him a weird look. Clever Katie. “But Shiro got pregnant. His cub is on the Castle. Shiro and Thace named him Akira. I guess that would make him Agamen Akira? That’s alliterative and kinda weird and-“

“Halfbreeds don’t get their Clan names,” Sam corrected. “It’s a big deal because their species is dying out.”

Katie’s expression was _definitely_ suspicious now. “But at any rate… Shiro and Thace kinda have a thing. They, um, mess around sometimes. In public places.” Her face was turning a vibrant red as she squirmed. “We sort of saw it in Shiro’s memories when we were trying to undo the memory wipe by the druids, but… um…” She cleared her throat and sobered. “I took Matt to the bridge after you fell asleep. He met Akira here and freaked out. He freaked out even worse when he found Shiro and Thace fucking on the training deck.” Her face tried to implode right there. Sam tried to cover a laugh- he remembered, even if Katie didn’t, being caught by children when trying to get a moment of adult time- because he suspected that this story was going to get bad very soon.

As the story continued, he had no idea how bad.

“He… attacked Thace. Put a sword through his shoulder,” Katie went on, voice slowing. “Shiro freaked out and attacked him back and burned him with his arm. He started calling Shiro names. He called Shiro an Omega bitch.” She took a deep breath and exploded. “ _Did he forget that mom is an Omega too?_ ” she cried, voice going high and hoarse at the same time, fists pounding on the bed. “He acted like it was a crime to shift. Like- like it made Shiro a bad person. Like he completely forgot that mom did the same thing!” Pidge got to her feet and started pacing. “Like I could, too?”

“Was Matty badly hurt?” he asked quickly. While he doubted it if she was this angry-

“Bruised. His throat’s got blisters on it, but if Shiro had meant to kill him, Matt would be dead,” she said in complete seriousness, looking down. “I’ve seen what Shiro can do with that arm, and it’s pretty ugly. If it had been at full charge, Matt’s head would have been rolling on the ground.” She hugged herself. “And trust me, I’m going to yell at Shiro later.” She shuddered. “But- he started calling Akira names, too. Akira’s innocent in all of this. If Shiro hadn’t wanted Thace’s cub, I don’t think he would have survived.”

“Matt met several half-breeds when we were on the ice-rig. Few of them were treated well,” Sam said quietly. “None had kind things to say about the Empire. And finding out that he had been replaced by a Galra couldn’t have helped his ego.”

The expression on Katie’s face was absolutely flabbergasted. “Replaced? What-“ then it cleared as understanding hit. “Oh. Um. I’m not sure if that made things better or worse.”

Sam sighed, and took a seat on the bed. “I don’t know either. Matt would talk to me about his crush on Shiro often, but he never tried to actually ask Shiro out. Part of it was that he was plainly afraid of being mixed in with Shiro’s other admirers.”

“Other admi- _oh._ ” She winced. “I remember that.”

“I used to get fan mail from people asking me to send it to Shiro.” Sam snorted faintly. “And Shiro was always polite about it. Uncomfortable, and nothing _but_ polite about it.”

“Yeah. So?” she said, baffled. 

“It’s easy to enjoy the fantasy of a crush without doing anything about it. On top of that, Shiro never talked about being an in-between. And, let’s face it: Omegas are still viewed as baby-makers.” Katie scowled. Laura had welcomed her children, but she and Sam had planned everything out from family leave to potential colleges even before she went off her suppressants. She went right back to work as soon as Matt was weaned. “He never saw your mother go through a heat, and you haven’t shifted and might never.” He shrugged. “It’s not an excuse. But sometimes those little fantasies were all that kept us going through the day. I still desperately want to see your mother again. For my friends to be happy and safe. I used to imagine you and your mother and Matt, all home and enjoying board games. Boring, I know-“

She hugged him, and he squeezed his marvelous little girl, grown up so much. 

“What if I shift and he hates me?” she mumbled into his chest. “I don’t have a regulator.”

“He wouldn’t. He’s upset and angry that Shiro would sleep with a Galra and not with him-“

“That’s such bullshit-“

“You said it. But he’s a young beta male who hasn’t gotten laid in a long time. We’re dumb that way.”

She laughed a little. Sam grabbed a sheet and dabbed her tears away.

He hoped that talking to the General would be so easy.

~*~*~*~*~*~

Allura watched Shiro leave, and then Pidge and her brother, and tried to force her eyebrows back from where they had crawled up her face.

“That was… something.”

Coran nodded. His expression was similarly flummoxed. “I am not sure how much of that I understood. I think we should try asking more about the interplay between human genders and sexes, in case this becomes a problem. The translator seemed to have some trouble.”

Allura nodded. “I never got the impression from before that there were issues with how different genders were treated by humans. But it may be because our humans are an exceptional group.” She frowned and sighed. Some of it, though… “Are you all right?”

“Why wouldn’t I be?” Coran asked, bewildered. 

“The way he was talking about half-breeds.”

“Nothing new in the universe, Allura. I’ve heard it all before,” Coran said, and shrugged. “Alteans, our allies, no one had particularly kind words for people with Galra-blood, or those who choose to breed with them.” 

Allura was silent for a moment. “I am going to ask something of a rude question now. Can you answer?”

Coran shrugged. “You asked me once why yelmores didn’t go to yelmore doctors. Perfectly logical thinking.”

“For a child. Very well. Why would someone choose to breed with a Galra?” she asked softly. “If your offspring would be treated so poorly?”

“At the time, the Galra themselves didn’t. Treat us poorly, that is. We were just part of the Clan, if not the core blood of it. Though it depended on the Clan. They had different cultures, religions, languages, same as any other species. I can’t speak for everyone who did, but it was because my grandfather and grandmother were well matched. He was an engineer and she was an architect. He designed the engines and life support while she made the Castle livable.” He ran a hand over the wall fondly. “And they wanted children in their lives. My mother and her siblings were loved, even if their lives weren’t easy.”

Allura tried to keep her sigh to herself, just looking down at her hands. Coran knew her too well, though.

“Allura, Zarkon was well liked before the war. Hell, even I liked him. His charisma and drive were famous. He and Alfor fought but cared about each other deeply. If his sister hadn’t died, and left him the Heir, things might have gone very differently, for everyone,” Coran said. He rubbed the back of his neck. 

She didn’t bother to pursue anymore. “I’m going to check on Shiro. What Matt said about Omegas and about how half-breeds are treated seemed to leave him quite disturbed.”

Coran peered at her, not bothering to call her out, for which she was thankful.

~*~*~*~*~

_Miku found herself dumped within sight of the nearest town, as soon as her phone found bars. The drive took all of ten minutes, when they had been two hours out before._

_The alien was gentle, pulling her from her perch in front of him and then getting her friends from the wagon and carefully laying them out on the ground before disappearing into the distance._

_She didn’t even get to say goodbye. Or thank you._

_Time was a blur after that, calling emergency services and getting them to come. She spun some story- she wasn’t quite sure how coherent it was, but it was mostly the truth. She had sideswiped a big cat, causing an accident. A stranger had helped them out before giving them a ride there. He had left because she wasn’t sure if he was… legal. Yes. Legal._

_She had gone along, and to her relief Laura started waking up they were being loaded into the ambulance. Sam was still unconscious, and Miku was just a bit jealous. Her cuts had clotted, but her shoulder and body throbbed in time with her pulse. She didn’t let them load her on a stretcher, though. She didn’t want to get there and leave Laura alone while Sam was unconscious._

_They did insist on patching her up, cleaning the cuts and suturing the deep ones. She was given an injection to relax the muscles of her shoulder, before it was popped back into place while she swore, and put into a sling._

_In the meantime, Laura was moved to the obstetric wing of the hospital, and Miku followed. Sort of. The painkiller they had given her was a strong one, and she found herself weaving back and forth as she tried to walk. But by fuck she was going to get there._

_She was going to get there. Just a few more steps._

_She was going…_

_She collided with a body. A big, solid body. It steered her towards a padded bench nearby, sitting down in front of her. She blinked, stupidly, at a pair of violet eyes that were now level with her own. One hand, the size of a dinner plate, hovered over one of her shoulders without touching it._

_“You are injured,” the deep voice said. “You should rest.”_

_“Can’t,” she mumbled. “Need to stick with my friend.”_

_“She is being tended to. She is not leaving. You cannot help someone else until you are capable to walking in a straight line,” the deep voice replied, in a tone that sounded like he was soothing a puppy or a child. She frowned._

_“She’s alone and scared, her husband is in surgery,” she said, numbly. “Needs me.”_

_“She is sleeping now. The doctors here will call you when she wakes. You can take your own rest for now.”_

_Miku stared at him. Looked down at the bench. She sat down, closing her eyes for just a moment…_

_…only to realize later that her head was pillowed on the big man’s thigh, a heavy red coat draped over her like a blanket and smelling of spice and autumn leaves…_

_“Sleep, little bird. Your friend will be fine when you wake.”_

_Miku barely had the strength to flip him off before passing out again._


	8. Chapter 8

Sometimes it still didn’t seem quite real.

Oh, he had gotten over piloting a giant red mechanical lion and fighting an intergalactic evil. Living on a spaceship for the past few months had gone from weird to okay. Even the food goo and Hunk’s attempts to recreate something with actual texture and flavors had gotten into routine, if not always pleasant.

It was actually _living_ with people that was strange. 

Keith had been on his own since he was ten, bounced around to foster homes until he went to the Garrison to follow Shiro (who had been his Big Brother). Before that, he remembered his home with his parents, in his mother’s small apartment near the Garrison and camping with his father while he searched for markings in the desert.

Now he had to make small talk, had to remember to think about people’s feelings and their situations, had to remember that Hunk would freak out if he recommended the most logical solution. He had to remember that Pidge was just as much of an Alpha as he, even if she hadn’t shifted. He didn’t have much trouble with the Alteans, though he did find their attitude a little wearing, at times. His relationship with Shiro was still getting re-balanced. 

But getting along with Lance had been… unexpected.

When they first started butting heads he had assumed that it was because they were both Alphas, or because Lance was just some idiot who had this whole ‘rivalry’ thing going on in his head. But they did work well together when Lance wasn’t trying to puff up his ego-

-and Keith had _never_ expected to fall into bed with him. Except that Lance had taunted him, and Keith had gotten angry, and Lance had taken off running, and Keith had chased him-

The smell of a turned-on Omega had turned his brain to mush. That was the only explanation he could articulate. Except that Lance was cute, kinda funny, caring and sweet when he wasn’t being a dickhead, and he was willing. The sex helped them cope with lots of feelings: anger, grief, loss, frustration. So they kept doing it.

He had been playing around with Lance after they had gotten the Holts back. They had kept the flirting to a minimum- just Lance squeezing his knee under the table- before they had run off when it became obvious that the conversation was turning more personal.

This time, the sex had felt like joy. Or celebration. Whatever it was, it was good and Lance had been laughing through half of it. 

Keith didn’t know if he wanted to punch him or kiss him, but given that he had knotted him, he settled for kissing. 

Eventually they had both nodded off, only for Keith to wake up later. He was cold; Lance had stolen all of the covers but still somehow managed to pillow his head on Keith’s shoulder. 

Keith snorted, absently brushing his fingers through Lance’s short brown hair. They had achieved a minor but significant victory. Their stomachs were full of good food. The room was warm, dark and safe, smelling like himself and Lance. He felt loose limbed, a little cold from the drying sweat and come on his thighs, and his back smarted from where Lance had dug his fingers into his back. 

His lips curled up in a smile at the memory.

He didn’t realize he was purring until it was too late and forced himself to stop. 

Lance’s eyelids twitched but he didn’t stir.

Keith stifled his sigh of relief, and decided to check the perimeter. It didn’t need checking, he knew that, but there was a part of him that was convinced there was something there. Part of being an Alpha, he supposed. 

Getting out from under Lance was always interesting, but he managed to wiggle out and put a pillow in his place. Lance opened his eyes and cocked an eyebrow at him.

“Going to look around,” he told Lance, who pouted but nodded, stretching luxuriously and rolling over to go back to sleep. 

A quick shower and some fresh clothes later (which, he was a bit embarrassed to admit, he kept in Lance’s room) and he was walking up and down the halls. Once he knew that no one was around ~~that Lance was safe~~ he considered his options. Usually he would go train, but… he didn’t need to. He felt peaceful and calm, a little thirsty, and he didn’t want that feeling broken just yet.

So he headed to the kitchen, got some of the leftovers. On the way, he passed the lounge. 

Stopped.

He could smell distressed Omega, dried tears and unhappy, cranky cub. He turned, looking inside. 

Shiro was sitting on one of the couches, holding a fussy Akira who was thrashing his limbs and choking out heartbroken sobs as he tried to roll his head back and forth, eyes unfocused but trying to _look_.

“Shhh,” Shiro said, trying to sooth Akira, but the cub would have none of it. “You’re okay. It’s okay…”

Shiro, he noticed, looked like hell. He was dressed, but Keith could smell Thace- blood and semen, both- all over him. His face was dry but his eyes looked red and puffy, like he wanted to cry but couldn’t. 

“Shiro? What’s wrong?” Keith asked, walking in. Shiro looked up at him and then down at Akira.

“I… it’s a long story.”

“Are you hurt?” Keith sat down next to him. “Why do you smell like blood?”

Shiro grunted softly. “Thace and I were together on the training deck, earlier.” Keith felt his eyebrows lift. “Matt… He caught us, and panicked.” He tried to bounce Akira, but his little face scrunched up to start crying. “He hurt Thace. I,” and he swallowed. “I overreacted.” His eyes were haunted as he tried to calm Akira again, humming and murmuring. “I hurt Matt.”

“How?” He couldn’t imagine Shiro actually attacking someone who was pack. It just wasn’t in him.

“I charged him.” He looked down at his mechanical hand. “I tried to strangle him. If Thace hadn’t stopped me-“

Akira’s cries became louder, more distressed. Shiro’s breath caught, almost in tears himself, choking as he tried to sing. Nothing came out. Keith’s chest hurt watching them.

“Is he okay?” 

“He’s not hungry, he’s got a clean diaper, but he doesn’t want to sleep. I tried to take him back to our room but he doesn’t seem to want to calm down,” Shiro whispered, rocking back and forth. “Usually Thace takes him when he’s like this and tells him a story or-“

Keith opened his mouth. Closed it again. He took a deep breath and-

“And the great robot Voltron grew proud,” he started, not looking up to meet Shiro’s eyes, just reaching to touch Akira’s face. “And she wished to fight even the Goddess of Space herself. Never attempt this folly, my boy, for even the great Voltron could be defeated. And thus she was broken into five lions, and forever unable to act-“

Keith spoke haltingly, trying to remember the words from so long ago. They tasted odd in English. But it wasn’t always the words themselves that were important, but the _cadence_ and the tone, rising and falling, almost like a song…

Akira stopped crying, making a few choked little sobs as he calmed down. Shiro blinked at Keith like he had never seen him before.

“Where did you hear that?”

“I,” he started, then paused. “I heard Thace telling it to Akira, a few times. I thought it was… uh… interesting.”

“It usually knocks Akira out. Me too, sometimes.”

Keith nodded. “The begat part is awful.” Shiro shuddered a bit, before sniffling “Where is Thace? What happened to him?” 

“In one of the cryo-refreshers,” Shiro answered, voice cracking. “He- he was hurt pretty bad.”

And the last time Thace had been in one, Shiro had stayed the entire time. But with Akira being so fussy-

“Want me to take him?” Keith asked, a bit shyly. He knew he had been kind of afraid before. But that was before. “I can finish the story. That should keep him distracted while you go clean up.” _And have that breakdown you’re afraid to have because Akira is with you_ , he didn’t add. Akira was distressed, and Keith had a good idea why. Shiro was a mess, and his Papa was missing. He could tell _something_ was wrong, but not what. 

Shiro bit his bottom lip. Keith noticed that there was blood under his fingernails of his flesh hand, if not the mechanical one, like he had washed his hands in haste. “I feel bad, leaving-“

“You stink, Shiro,” he said bluntly. “And you smell upset. That’s not helping him.” He took a deep breath and opened his arms. “I got this.”

Shiro tilted his head to the side, before nodding and putting Akira in his arms. “Careful of his head,” he added needlessly, all concerned dam. Keith nodded, keeping it supported. Shiro hesitated, then got up. He absently wiped at his eyes and nose, and gave Keith a watery smile. “Thanks.”

It hurt, seeing Shiro like this. The man Keith remembered was always calm and collected. And he still was when it counted. Keith nodded up at him. “Go. We’ll be here.”

Shiro sidled out, looking at the two of them, before turning towards his room and walking down the hall.

Which left just the two of them. A small sniffle had him looking down at Akira, and grabbing for a blanket to dab at the cub’s eyes. 

“Well,” Keith said, taking a deep breath. “Let’s do this right.” Listening carefully, he counted to fifty when he could hear no one before leaning back, and put Akira’s head under his chin, body against his chest. He let himself rumble in a purr, which had Akira going still and quiet almost immediately. “Thought you wanted that,” he muttered. Licking his lips, he cast his mind back. Back to when his father would sit him in his lap and they would look at the stars together. 

“And this is the tale of your grandsire,” he started, whispering in Galra into Akira’s ear. It had always been Keith’s favorite, the story of a man earning the trust and respect of the red lion of the heavens, becoming her partner and friend. In the back of his mind, he felt like Red was curled up behind him, tailing twitching up and down in amusement. She presented a picture, of a Galra that didn’t look too dissimilar to Thace, overlaying himself as he walked up to Red and said “I AM YOUR PALADIN! I’M BONDING WITH YOU! HEY!”

Keith didn’t realize that he had put himself into a trance, his mind’s eye caught on Red’s picture as he mumbled through the long, descending rhythm of the lineage section. Akira was already yawning and purring back to Keith. It felt good, to feel that through his bones-

It wasn’t until he finished the long stanza, ending it with Thace’s name and the names of his sons, his sire’s name and his own, did he come back to himself and realize he had an audience. 

His chest stopped moving, cutting off the purr and Akira protested with a whine. 

“Don’t let me stop you,” Lance said. His face was soft, chin propped up on his fist, from where he was leaning on the back of the sofa at Keith’s feet. His smile was warm, if a little bit rueful. “You look pretty happy right there.”

Akira whined again, a small sob being a prelude to more tears, and Keith looked back and forth between Lance and the cub helplessly. “I- uh-“ 

Ice was forming in his stomach as he stared at Lance, not sure if he should run, deny, or kill him. (But that last was just… no, not happening.)

“Dude, I figured out you weren’t normal the first time we had sex. You, like, have bumps around the head,” Lance said, pointedly looking down at Keith’s crotch. 

Keith gurgled _something_ and crossed his legs. 

“I’m not complaining! And it’s not like this is the first time I’ve heard you purr,” Lance went on. “You do it in your sleep. I thought it was a weird snore at first. But when we were all in Shiro’s head and-“

If he hadn’t had his arms around Akira he would have tried to slap a hand over Lance’s mouth. “If you compare my dick to the General’s I will fucking end you.”

Lance’s smile was evil. “Language.” He thrust his chin out to Akira, whose eyes were still watery. “He’s impressionable.” Then his smile turned warm, and Keith felt his face turn red at the gentle look on Lance’s face before shaking it off. “And this is why Shiro’s so baby hungry,” Lance muttered to himself. “You look so cute holding him like that.” He tilted his head to the side. “So… um… I guess you’re a half-breed?”

Keith tried not to hold his breath, but he did rub Akira’s back to keep him calm. “Yeah?” His voice shook only a bit.

“Why do you look human? I mean, if you were as tall as Thace but with a human head I would guess it was what holo-mask-thing he was using but-”

“I don’t know. Dad did _something_ , he said, before I was born, to keep me looking like Mama.” He looked down at the cub. “I… I guess I would have looked like Akira otherwise. I mean, I was born on Earth but we didn’t stay on the grid.”

“And that would explain why you are so sadly lacking in your understanding of pop culture,” Lance said, nodding sagely. He sobered. “Does Shiro know? Why didn’t you tell us about you?”

Keith shook his head, rubbing under Akira’s chin and making him purr like a tribble, little body going limp as a noodle on his chest. “Never told him. Both of my parents drilled into me the idea that I had to keep this a secret. So telling anyone always felt… wrong. And then I realized I had put it off for so long and telling just…”

“Yeah.” Lance looked down. “You’re afraid people will treat you different.”

Keith nodded. “You’re not angry?” _Or scared_ was left unsaid.

Lance shrugged. “Yeah I’m angry. I let you know I’m an Omega, which is _kind of_ a big deal. We’re screwing around together and you didn’t tell me who you are upfront. That’s… really not a nice thing to do.” Keith winced. “But I get why you didn’t because, dude, I’m an _Omega_. The Garrison is actually pretty good about it but shit, man.”

“Huh.” He stared at Lance for several minutes. “I thought you would be punching me. Or trying to punch me.”

Lance rolled his eyes. “ _Cub_. Never punch the guy holding the cub. And no putting your dick in me for like, a week.”

Keith snorted softly. “Like you can hold out that long.”

“Hey, I can hold out. You’re going to be apologizing and begging me in two days, tops.” Keith tried not to snicker at that, but the smile dropped as Lance went on. “So what was your dad doing on Earth?”

He breathed out. “Investigating Voltron for the Resistance.”

Lance’s shoulders slumped. “The universal translator thingy was telling me your story. That last bit was. Um. So. Your dad was… um…”

Keith’s eyes prickled. “Executed.” He choked, before forcing himself to breathe again. “No. I didn’t know until we saw Shiro’s memories.”

Lance _almost_ whistled. “Babe. Move over,” he ordered, scooting in closer. Keith sat up, and found himself leaning on Lance with his head on Lance’s shoulder and under his arm. “I don’t care if this breaks some kind of stupid Alpha rule you are getting a hug now.”

Keith choked on a laugh.

“And you are so holding your uncle.”

This time Keith just choked. Lance tangled his fingers in Keith’s hair. “You should tell Thace, you know? He deserves to know you exist.”

“I’ve tried.” He wasn’t sure what else to say. “Never seems like the right time. And now he’s in the cryo-refresher again-“

Lance jumped. “The fuck, man?”

“Language,” he chided, before bringing Lance up to speed. 

Living with people was strange. But… maybe not so bad.

~*~*~*~*~

Allura didn’t find Shiro immediately when she went looking.

She did find Hunk, though, who was poking through the cooking supplies. He had taken a few pieces of produce and was popping them in his mouth, brow creased in concentration. “Hey, Princess,” he greeted her, and held out something that resembled a wrinkled, gray scrap of paper. “Want to help me taste test these? They’re pretty good.”

Allura took the proffered foodstuff, looking it over. “What is it?”

“One of the foods off the planet we just left. They had some good analogues to Earth foods and I think this is some kind of seaweed. What do you taste?”

She tore a piece free and dropped it on her tongue. “Round and salty,” she offered. “Maybe a bit sour.” She almost asked for another piece. 

“The umami is really strong with this one,” he said sagely. “I was thinking to use it for soup, later. How about this?” He dropped what looked to be a leaf in her hand. 

“Bitter,” she said, and made a face. “Strong tannins.”

“It tastes a lot like tea,” he said cheerfully. “Humans usually make a drink from it.”

“Ah,” she said diplomatically, making a note to steer clear of it in the future. It made her mouth pucker. 

“And last but not least!” he said with a flourish, dropping what looked to be a green berry in her hand. “What do you think?”

Her face scrunched up as the sourness. “What is it?”

“Kinda tastes like a strawberry to me. Sweet and tart at the same time. Might try making some kind of pie with it.”

“Sweet?”

“It’s the taste sense devoted to detecting sugars in foods,” Hunk said. “They’re easy for us to digest so we have a huge reward system involved in our brains when we detect them-“ he cut off. “So you can’t taste sweet?”

Allura made a face. “Not so much? My father loved juniberries, and the scent of their flowers was intoxicating. I enjoyed picking them because they tasted, to me, like the seaweed. Strong and rich.”

Hunk nodded. “Huh. That probably explains why the food goo doesn’t taste sweet to me, but we do get energy from it so it probably has some kind of carbs… Or why Coran put that weird-“ Allura lifted an eyebrow and Hunk flushed. “Um, never mind.”

“And what is pie?”

“Oh! It’s a confectionary from earth. Usually in a round plate, baked in an oven,” and the translator was throwing all sorts of weird images into her head here, trying to give her some context, “and it’s really popular as a comfort food. Kinda homey, kinda humble, but people eat it when they feel homesick.” He shrugged. “Kinda need that, sometimes.”

“I understand.” She did. What she wouldn’t give to taste juniberries again, and something that would make her feel a little more like home? How could she not? 

She leaned back against the counter, clasping her hands in thought. Speaking of home… “May I ask you some questions about Earth?” Most of the answers the Paladins had given her about their gender and sexes had been vague at best. Given Matt’s reaction to Shiro’s change in sex, her lack of knowledge bothered her. 

“Sure, Princess,” Hunk said, licking his fingers, holding a cluster of the small fruit. “Hm. Got some kind of preserved protein here. I wonder if I could pull off spam musubi with that pseudo-grain…”

“How are different sexes treated on Earth?”

She winced when he dropped the food he had been holding, falling to her knees to help him clean up the splatter. Her friends joined in, but more so they could stuff their faces than any particular desire to be of use. 

“I- well- it’s kind of difficult to explain, princess,” he said, hunching his shoulders forward. “And you know it’s complicated.” Hunk sighed. “There’s a _lot_ of cultural baggage involved, some religious stuff, some biological stuff, too. But we explained about the whole ‘Alphas guard, Omegas have lots of babies, betas make up the bulk of the population, in-betweens are the back-ups.’”

She grabbed a sponge and started cleaning up the spilled juice on the floor. “Yes. But very little of that explained how they interact with each other.”

“Hoboy. We… well. Like I said. It’s super complicated. There’s a huge intersection on race and class that goes along with it…” He wiped his hands nervously. “Beta cis-gendered men usually get better treatment. We’re considered ‘normal’ because we don’t have the same impulse control issues that Alphas or Omegas have. It’s bullshit, honestly. Next are cis-Alphas, because they’re male, too. Cis-gendered beta women come in next, and after that are the in-betweens that haven't shifted. People tend to ignore them because usually get treated like betas of whatever sex they were assigned at birth. Omega women usually get treated badly if they’re discovered. Until we invented a really reliable birth control they had difficult lives. In-betweens that shifted to Omega were in the same boat. Shifted Alphas sometimes had it a bit better, if they shifted young enough to really fit the masculine stereotype…” He sighed. “And that’s just biological sex. Add in gender being separate and things get even more awkward to describe.”

“I see.” Allura wasn’t quite sure that she did, but if his face got any redder she feared for his health. “And how would Shiro usually be treated?”

“Oh hell.” He turned away. “We’ve come a long way on that issue, but… Not everyone, but there’s still a lot of prejudice against in-betweens. Especially ones that don’t choose to hide, or can’t hide, as cis-Omega or a cis-Alpha. Shiro goes home, he’s going to face a lot of prejudice. Same thing would happen to Pidge if she shifted right now. Lance’s family is cool with him and super supportive, but he doesn’t tell _anyone_ unless he’s known them for a while. He usually uses a scent neutralizer.” He breathed out, shoulders slumping. “Why do you want to know?”

Allura frowned. Given the example of kindness and courage she had witnessed from her Paladins, she had thought higher of their species. So she explained, as succinctly as she could, what had taken place earlier in the infirmary.

Now Hunk looked slightly gray. “Oh shit.”

“I would not use those words, but I think our feelings are aligned on this matter,” Allura said, leaning back on the counter. “Is his reaction typical?”

Hunk grimaced, before going to wash his hands. “Yes. No. I don’t know. Not always. But it happens often enough that I’m embarrassed for him. But this is an ugly mess.”

“Is he a danger to anyone else for this?” That anyone would be Lance. He was an idiot but he was _their_ sweet idiot. 

“Probably not. If Matt is anyone like Pidge, he’s probably having a freak out and got diarrhea of the mouth instead of any deep-seated resentment towards Omegas.” Hunk said, then muttered something the translator didn’t pick up before punching the counter and glaring at it. Then- “Ow.”

She smiled. “You’ve answered my questions. Thank you, Hunk.” She straightened. “I’m going to check on Shiro. He looked highly disturbed when he left.”

“And I’m going to see about making some comfort food. What’s comfort food for a Galra?” he called over his shoulder.

“Ah. I think mostly omnivorous, but high on animal proteins and fatty acids and weak on fruits,” she called back. 

“Like Alteans?”

Allura froze. “Not… exactly… like Alteans.”

He turned and blinked at her, then turned back to refrigeration unit. “Okay. So.” He rubbed his chin. “Sashimi? This stuff looks that looks like whitebait?”

Allura wandered off after that, leaving Hunk to experiments.

~*~*~*~*~

_Miku awoke to a nurse putting a hand on hers._

_“Your friend is calling for you,” he had said, and Miku nodded, still shaking the cobwebs of her crazy ass dreams from her mind. It took her a moment to orient herself, figure out where she was-_

_Her good arm was numb, under her, and her feet and ankles were cold from where they stuck out from under her covers. Big, red covers. That smelled like leaves and spices and-_

_Memory flooded in, making her sit straight up so fast the world tilted around her, nearly falling as the big man next to her caught her before she could face-plant in the hall floor._

_“Be easy,” he murmured, and she shook her head because she was sure she actually heard something else, even if the meaning was there, clear as day. “Your friend wants you. Go to her.”_

_She stood up. The nurse was waiting on them both. Apparently, it was a slow day._

_“You’ve been requested to join your friend. Pack only right now,” the nurse went on. He looked at the big man, who was still seated. “Is this your Alpha? He’s not mentioned in your pack paperwork.”_

_Miku blinked. Turned back to look at the big man who… was… oh god she had been sleeping with her head in the lap of an alien. Probably for hours. A big, purple alien who had somehow made himself look human and was looking at her in bewilderment. And put a coat on her and called her a little bird and rescued him even if his paw looked injured._

_An alien who would, likely, disappear as soon as her back was turned._

_Like hell was she letting him get away._

_“YES!” she half-shrieked, rushing up to him and grabbing his bad hand with her good one. “Yes, this is my Alpha-“ she saw him mouth the word in confusion. “Honey, thank you for coming with me!” she said and yanked him forward, listening to his quiet yelp of pain as she did so, and got to his feet._

_She needed a name. A name for a guy from another country because hell if she could pretend a guy who looked this lost was from America. Okay if he was hick maybe but no, foreign. He needed to be foreign. Tall foreign, so not Japanese or Korean. Too pale to really pull off African except maybe South African but how tall were they?_

_“Sven, dear,” she went on, hooking their arms together. “You know I don’t want to do this without you. Come with me now.”_

_Oh god please don’t let him have laser vision or phasing powers or some other comic book shit, she prayed. She did feel him glaring at her, eyes narrowed. But he didn’t seem to want to cause a scene, which she could use to her advantage._

_“Of course… beloved.”_

_“Thanks, snookums.”_

_His eyes fluttered and she was sure she heard him chirp in confusion before answering. “Light of my heart.”_

_“Pudding pie.”_

_He said something and the meaning was ‘one who makes me forget to breathe’ but his mouth didn’t move enough for that._

_The nurse chuckled, before turning to lead the way to Laura’s suite._

_Laura, bless her, didn’t bat an eye when the very tall man came in with Miku, and didn’t ask any questions. Given that she was in a great deal of pain may have had something to do with that. The doctors had, apparently, deemed it too dangerous to give her an epidural._

_Thankfully, nothing else went wrong in the remaining eight hours. Except that she had to keep an eye on the alien who kept trying to make bee line out of there. Or tell him exactly what was going on._

_“Is it always this painful for your queens?” he hissed at one point when the doctors had left. Somehow Miku had talked him into holding Laura’s hand with his good one. Miku’s much smaller good hand was in the other._

_“Not always. We do have medications to,” and they all collectively winced as another contraction started and Laura breathed through it, “lessen the pain. But she’s not able to use them right now.”_

_He was staring them. “This cannot be normal. What species has this much-“_

_“This is her first child. They usually take longer and hurt a lot more,” Miku went on. Laura was looking at them both with confusion. The alien had nearly stopped her from filling Laura in on the situation, before Miku had hissed that this was_ his fault _so shut up._

_“Yeah. And, against someone’s advice, I decided to wait until he was full term,” Laura added as the contraction subsided. “Your species doesn’t have so much trouble?”_

_He hesitated. “Not during deliveries, no. Our queens usually birth with little difficulty and minimal pain.”_

_“Lucky them.”_

_“Your whelp is, by all reports, healthy and strong. It is they who would envy you.”_

_Both Omegas stared at him before the next contraction took their attention. Thankfully, no doctors or nurses had been around at the time._

_Matt was born with the dawn, at 6:32 in the morning. Miku nearly laughed as the alien’s eyes bugged out, looking at Matt’s size, his wails, and tried to slip out when the doctors were rushing in. She had jumped to keep him there under the guise of cuddling with her Alpha._

_He didn’t fight too hard. She had seen the blatant curiosity on his face. And a sort of wistful longing as Laura held her new cub._

_“I take it you aren’t a father?” She said, then frowned. “You are male, right?” Figured she would completely misgender the first alien she had met. Like this situation wasn’t insane enough already._

_“No, I am not. And yes, I am male. I haven’t been awarded the right to breed yet.”_

_That took a moment to process. “Oh… okay.”_

_Somehow she managed to keep him a little longer. Just a little longer. Teased him with silly names. Sat on his lap a few times. Fed him. Threatened him with guilt over not apologizing to Sam._

_She didn’t want him to go just yet. She didn’t think aliens would have a sense of humor, as he teased her back. She didn’t think he would have a sense of honor, wanting to make sure that she and her friends were well before leaving. But he did._

_Just a little longer._

_Just a few more moments._

_He was walking out the door and she was trotting after him, cursing her short legs._

_“You haven’t told me your name, handsome,” she called out to his back as he was about to round a corner. “And… and more serious questions. I mean, yeah, been silly because this situation is completely batshit but- Why are you here? Where are you from?” He threw his weight forward to keep moving-_

_“Is this an invasion?”_

_He stopped, and what he said next made ice form in a ball in her stomach._

_“My people will, eventually, conquer your world. But probably not within your lifetime.”_

_Miku steeled herself. All ninety pounds of herself. “If that’s the case, then… then I can’t let you go.”_

_“There are some that fight my species. We are few. Saving your world might be impossible but what we are here for may save others.”_

_The fight went out of her. She was tired, sore, and today was too weird to be believed._

_“Cuddle-bear,” she said. Did she trust him? He could be lying. But… but he hadn’t done anything to hurt her. “You’ve basically told me to expect the end of my world and you want me to do nothing?”_

_“I really don’t want to kill you.”_

_“Good. I don’t want to die. You can’t just say shit like this and expect me to ignore it!”_

_He turned towards her, looming over her like a modern-day Goliath._

_“You do something stupid I swear I will kick out your knees and punch you in the dick,” she threatened._

_He snorted, before reaching out to touch the side of her face. “Little bird, take care of yourself. I hope we do not meet again.”_

_“Right. That’s… that’s the stupidest thing I have ever heard. You can’t just waltz into our lives and wreck my car and then say ‘tally-ho, off to fight galactic evil, enjoy the few years you have left!’ This isn’t a fairy tale or a drama or some other shit.”_

_“I am not here to help you.”_

_“And yet, muffin, you already have,” she answered, good hand on her hip. “You’ve already proven you aren’t the type of person to leave helpless people to their fate. Even when you’re hurt yourself.” She reached out, gently this time, touching his injured paw. “This isn’t about me or you. Humans, we’re fucked up, but… but we deserve a chance to fight.”_

_He tugged his hand free of her grip, and then turned to walk away._

_“Agamen.”_

_“What?”_

_“My name. It’s Agamen Mayth.”_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I eventually went with Mayth, because I had originally wanted it to BE Mayth. He's got the reason to be on Earth- he's an archaeologist who has been researching Voltron since he got out of the military. Zace stayed in the military and was feeding the Resistance information and got his baby brother involved. He'll show up, and he's Thace 2.0 (every bit the Eldest Son syndrome) but no, I created Mayth with this intention and felt I had put sufficient foreshadowing in to make it work. Hope that makes sense!


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, folks. This December kicked my butt with overtime and weekend work, then I went home for the holidays, which was tiring in its own right. Been working on this chapter off an on since then. I hope to get on to a more regular schedule again afterwards, but I'll be going back home in the middle of the week and might be pretty tired after that. 
> 
> But, at any rate, Happy Holidays and New Year!

Sam wondered if Matt or Shiro had caught his gasp of “It can’t be!” mere moments before they caught in the ship’s tractor beam. If they had realized he recognized their captors.

He could remember, so vividly, kneeling before the commander of the scouting vessel that had found them as Shiro had regained consciousness. He had trembled, keeping Matt shushed, but he had not been close enough to try to keep Shiro silenced. 

He wanted to dive for Shiro, to check to see if he was okay in those moments after he had been knocked down. Thankfully he wasn’t completely unconscious, just woozy. But he could see the dawning terror on his face as they were dragged down the halls to interrogation. 

He heard voices; the universal translator microbes seemed to be working now, because he could the soft hiss of sounds becoming understandable. Whispers of ‘They found another one’ and ‘damn Galra’ and ‘Funny looking, aren’t they?’ passed up and down the corridor until they were dragged into a holding cell for… a long time. He had no idea as to how long. They eventually got back to the main fleet. He had clung to Matt and Shiro for as long as he could.

They were separated. Stripped. Searched. He was grateful Matty didn’t have to see his old man cry.

Part of him hated that he had hoped, prayed, for rescue from his friends. That Mayth and Zace would hear about this and come. But he knew, deep down, that it wouldn’t happen. They had left Earth to draw attention away from it. And even if they knew he was in trouble, he doubted they could come to his rescue anytime soon.

They had never told him, explicitly, why they had come to Earth. Miku had known. It had been worth her death, in her opinion.

He found himself hoping he would be half as brave as his friend.

When the old druid had walked in, he looked around. His hands were bound together, and to a chain that was attached to the floor. He had no way to kill himself quickly. He first attempt to bash his own head in resulted in a shorter chain.

Her long, bony fingers raked through his mind, carving away layers, rummaging through moments and feelings like they were used underwear. Ugly thoughts, memories were held up and examined: petty academic rivalries, loss of face to his peers, the moment of weakness that had him almost betray Miku and her boy. The joys were carelessly tossed aside even as he tried to hang on to them: the moment Laura had agreed to marry him, stepping onto Enceladus as the first human there, watching Matt or Katie tear into Christmas presents with simple, pure happiness. The druid lingered over pains, almost licking her fingers to savor the taste; she seemed to revel in the memory of his helpless horror as Miku crashed her fighter jet into a Galra scouting ship. He had begged her to eject. To get out. She had said no. She had to be sure.

_“You’re not getting this li-”_ There was a crash. Then silence, and the horror of living on when the world had ended.

The druid laughed at her foolish sacrifice. “You know more than your fellows,” she purred. “You know _so_ much more-“

He did everything he could to resist. He counted, he sang songs, he tried to lose himself in other memories. He succeeded, somewhat. At first. 

But he was worn down. Eventually, she found what she wanted.

She tore free the memories of both Agamens, squeezing and poking like they were melons. 

She couldn’t find his mission; Mayth was always cagey, never giving away his true purpose. He had even seemed to lose interest in it once he had paired up with his little human Omega.

The pain in his head had stopped as she paused at the descriptor, thrown off of her search. 

His head throbbed. Everything he knew about Omegas, about his Laura, was laid out in front of him, of her. The heats, pregnancies with multiples, and the changes the in-betweens went through. She lingered over that one, curiously interested in the idea. She left for quite a long time after that one. But she did return.

The memory of watching Miku and Mayth, so obviously caught up in each other, ignoring everyone around them, came forward to his mind. He had noted the moment, early in their odd relationship, watching them flirt with all of the subtly of a bull in a china shop, when it seemed that his entire purpose had shifted.

The Galra had risked his mission, to stay with Miku as long as he had. Had begged to stay when his brother finally came to collect him.

It took… maybe five sessions for the old druid to find that one. He just knew the time had been interminable. She was rougher than usual; something had obviously angered her. He had no idea what, just suffered as she traced his thoughts and feelings and memories.

He had noted, once, that there were more than a few parallels between Miku and Shiro, not the least of which was a shared ethnicity. Both were _hafu_ , both were exceptional pilots, both were fiercely protective of the people they cared about. Both were Omegas, or in Shiro’s case, an in-between.

She stopped at the last part. 

She left. She never came back after that. 

That he had seen Matt again after that was a shock. That they had, eventually, been rescued had been something of a fever dream.

Getting to see Katie (or Pidge, she hadn’t said she had a preference yet) again had been a miracle.

What was left, after that, was the guilt. 

And on top of that, this situation was just utterly absurd. “Kiddo, you think your brother is awake just yet?”

Katie shrugged, forehead against her father’s shoulder. 

“Okay then. Let’s see if we can find Shiro. We’ve all got our fair share of PTSD right now,” he said, and suddenly she hugged him and squeezed, hard. “Matt and I didn’t have it as badly as some,” he told her, petting her hair. “But…” To be honest or to spare her. She was only fourteen. “It may be awhile until we’re back to normal.”

She nodded. He didn’t know if she really understood was just nodding for the sake of nodding, but it warmed him regardless.

“Well, I don’t think I’m going to sleeping for a while,” Sam said with a grunt, putting a finger on Katie’s forehead and pushing her back. “And by the by, which name do you want me to use? I’ll probably slip up and keep using Katie out of habit but-“

She sniffled and shrugged. “I answer to both. I told everyone here after we had an attack on the Castle and I didn’t want to hide anymore. Shiro had already guessed. He said you talked about me?” She peered up at Sam, who nodded. “The others had, except for Lance, but he’s an idiot. But Pidge was what they started calling me and they stuck with it.”

Sam nodded to her, before getting to his feet. “I want to ask Shiro what happened. I’m not entirely thrilled about what happened, but I do want to meet another Agamen.”

“Another?” She tilted her head to the side, glasses reflecting to blot out her eyes. “How many have you met?”

“Just two,” he said blandly, before she squealed and tackled him.

~*~*~*~*~

Shiro walked back to their room, gesturing for the light to come on.

He took a few steps in, and stopped. Thace’s crates were up against the wall opposite the bed. The one with his sons’ things were sealed, but his regular clothes were folded on top. Akira’s clothing and supplies were laid out, in order of importance from messy diaper to bath time, on the desk beside Akira’s basinet. The bed itself was also neat, with the blankets folded up under the pillows. 

Shiro had been surprised to see no hospital corners on the bed. As for his own side of the room, it was not terrible, but his pajamas were in a ball next to where he had neatly stacked his armor. Towels that hadn’t quite made it to the cleaning chute were on the floor. 

Methodically he stripped off his clothes, dumping them down the chute, and he took short, quick steps to the bathing room. He gestured for the water, closing his eyes so not to look at the purple fur in the drain. 

He took a deep breath. Let it out. Tried to force the tension out of his jaw, his shoulders, but the knots in his muscle reflected the knots in his mind. His fists were clenched as he bowed his head, letting the water flow over him.

His feelings were a huge ball of utter fucked-up-ness that he could only begin to untangle as he groped for the body wash dispenser and a sponge. He thought it was a sponge, at any rate. There was something like a curry comb and brush on the other side.

He swallowed. The first tangled snarl was… he had thought he was okay with it. He had no choice to live like a beta. Shiro was fine with male pronouns, never questioned his gender-

_And terrified of how people treated Omegas,_ something whispered in his head.

He let his forehead thud against the cool, smooth wall of the shower. 

His parents had chosen, even before he started school, to put an implant in his arm. He hadn’t been asked, consulted, or even told what was happening until he had been given a local anesthetic. He had still felt the pinch. He hadn’t even understood _why_ until years later and his junior high school health class. He had been so disturbed by it- finding out that he _wasn’t_ a beta, that he wasn’t what he had been told he was- that he had shut the book and never spoken of it again if he could help it.

His father had died when he was eleven. His father had been an Alpha and been thrilled when Ryou, Shiro’s brother, had been another Alpha. His mother, a beta, had been quietly dismissive of Omegas his whole life.

He done his best after that, to be the Alpha his father wanted and hide the Omega his mother held in contempt. Not that he was quite sure what being an Omega meant. He had just felt unfinished.

He let his head connected with the warm, wet wall of the shower as he finished washing. 

He tried to sift through his thoughts, his memories. He had been upset, terrified that someone had attacked Thace. Hurt by Matt’s words.

He had _hurt Matt_.

His cybernetic hand flared hot, glowing in the dim shower, the drops hissing as they boiled away. He thought at his hand, unclenched his fist, let it relax.

Physical attraction to Thace had hit him, hard and fast, once trust had set in. Once he felt safe enough to let his guard down. Thace had no expectations of him, had never seen him as an ersatz Alpha or pretend beta. Just this strange alien who had no self-preservation skills.

He turned off the water. 

Stepping out of the shower, he stood underneath the dryer for a few moments, letting the hot air flow over him. His eyes focused on nothing.

_What did you ever see in me?_ He thought towards Black, wondering why he would ever be considered worthy.

The Black Lion purred in the back of his mind. She didn’t present words, just images-   
_  
\- He was in her cockpit, shouting orders to his friends who followed without hesitation-  
\- He was laughing with those friends, giving guidance and love and confidence-  
\- He was looking down at her, who grew taller to meet his eyes and not caring that the universe said no, this was so very right-  
-He heard the giggle from behind him, turning to full-fledged laughter as he came out of the shower, as he was picked up and tossed on the bed. Some part of his mind was yelping a name- Allura- but that wasn’t her, that wasn’t his love, his queen, as she pounced. He grabbed her and laughed, deep in his chest, rolling her on to her back and-  
\- He was holding his whelp to his face and breathing in, knowing his child’s scent and knowing he would tear the universe apart to keep his little one safe-  
\- He was arguing, they were arguing and the one he loved was no more, his child ripped from his arms-  
_  
He was stumbling forward, bracing himself against the door frame as the images careened through his mind. Shiro looked down at his huge, purple paws, tipped in talons. 

He wretched himself back with a shout, stumbling back to the bed, staring at his hands. One olive, the other gray with black fingers.

“What the fuck?” he whispered, trembling. 

Black growled; Shiro swallowed hard as he was pulled down again-  
 _  
\- Swearing that he would protect his child with his life, even if the universe would burn-  
\- And trying to move on. –  
_

He was swamped by love and protectiveness, jealously and mourning, and-  
 _  
\- Watching the reports come in, the queen he had contracted with tearfully telling him that they were dead, all dead, no whelps. The reports poured in, saying that no full litter had survived in weeks-  
\- Standing in front of the King and Queen of Altea, kneeling to beg for their lives. Denials and lies poured from their lips like poison-  
\- Reaching for the little tom, the child who should have been his, the new Crown Prince and _snapping his neck-

Shiro fell to his knees, his stomach roiling as his fought to stay afloat in Zarkon’s rage and despair and nihilistic certainly that the Alteans had neutered his people. “I’m not him- We aren’t-“  
 _  
-“But they’re prisoners, just like us!” he declared to Thace-  
-“I’m sorry- I’m so sorry-“  
\- that moment, that first moment, hearing Akira scream and knowing that he couldn’t, wouldn’t kill an innocent, not again-  
_

Shiro held himself, feeling his teeth chatter as he fought his way free. “What was that?”

Black just purred at him, and he heard himself, echoing his question to her. What did she see in him?

He fell back, still naked against his bed, as he tried to catch his breath. His hands were his own. His scars, up and down his chest and legs. His stretch marks and swollen tits. No fur. He couldn’t see so far into the infrared. 

Shirogane Takashi. Not Zarkon. But the sheer weight of all of those _feels_ meant he couldn’t stop the tears running down his face, using a blanket to wipe at the snot as his head throbbed and his stomach twisted.

“You realize now I have a ton more shit to process, right?” he said aloud. That had been one hell of an info dump. 

He could feel her there, in the back of his mind, and he could almost see a massive black lion in the room with him, scooping up a cub in her great jaws, jumping on the bed to give the squalling ball of fur a tongue bath. “Well, at least you’re confident.” And what she had just shown him did make Shiro feel a little more secure. She had chosen him because he was like Zarkon… and had chosen _differently_ than Zarkon. And she felt he would never attack an innocent being.

“And Matt wasn’t innocent?” he asked aloud, wiping his eyes again.

She snorted at him, showing him the image of Matt kicking Thace after the first attack, then insulting Akira, calling him a freak. 

Shiro breathed out, anger fizzing under his ribs. Matt’s words towards himself, he could understand. But Akira? 

If Matt spoke badly of his boy again, Shiro was going to be very… _very_ … upset.

He stared up at the bulkhead for a few moments, before getting to his feet and reaching for some clean underwear. He had pulled on his pajama pants when the door alarm chimed.

He snatched at his shirt, half tangled up in it as he waved at the door sensor.

Commander Holt and Pidge blinked at him as he finished getting his arms through the sleeves. He smiled a little sheepishly. He knew there were still tear tracks on his face, and that his eyes had to be red and puffy. 

“Are you all right?” Pidge asked, soft and shocked. “Is- I am going to find Matt and-“

“No! No, I-“ he wiped at his face with his sleeve again. “Sorry. Guess I look like some hysterical Omega, don’t I?” 

Commander Holt’s face developed a seam between his eyebrows, while Pidge frowned darkly. “Okay. Matt has to die now-“

“No,” the Commander said, putting a hand on Pidge’s shoulder to hold her still. He looked up to meet Shiro’s face. “We wanted to come to see how you were doing, Shiro, and I also wanted to meet your cub.” He managed to curl his lips into a smile but his eyes were still creased in concern. “Ka-Pidge told me some of what happened to you.” His lips didn’t change but the creases eased. “I hear he’s a real cutie.”

Shiro dropped his eyes. “He’s beautiful.” He shifted his weight. “He was being fussy earlier- I think the smell of blood on me was making him unhappy- so Keith took him.” Shiro stepped back and gestured for both of them to come inside. “I was going to check on them in a few minutes, after I got my head on straight.”

“ _Keith_ took him?” Pidge asked, walking in past Shiro and looking around. She immediately walked over to Thace’s crates and started looking around. “He was acting like Akira might explode or something.”

“Somehow, he learned Thace’s story.” Pidge looked nonplussed, but Commander Holt’s eyebrow went up. “Thace has this long epic poem story he tells Akira to make him sleep. I’ve heard him tell a couple of different stories, but this one usually knocks him out like a light.”

“And Keith- what did you say his family name was?” Commander Holt asked, rubbing his chin. “Was this your little brother from when you joined the Garrison?”

Shiro nodded. “Keith Kogane. He pilots the Red Lion now.”

Commander Holt’s eyebrows crawled up his face. “Ah, I see,” he said, nodding to himself like this all made perfect sense. Shiro wasn’t sure if he was in any place to question it right now- he had visions of Zarkon dancing in his head- so he let it pass. 

“I’m- I’m sorry I attacked Matt,” Shiro said after a moment, swallowing hard. “I wasn’t thinking.”

“Clearly,” Holt responded, voice completely dry. “Both of you are adults and should have known better than to, ah, have adult time in a place where you could be easily interrupted. Or at least locked the door.”

Shiro’s face burned. “Yes, sir.”

“That being said, the worst outcome should have been awkwardness and embarrassment, not violence,” he went on. “And I am profoundly sorry for that. Matt should apologize himself, but I feel like I should say something. Our captivity at the hands of the Galra was not… pleasant.” His voice rose, and went a bit hoarse. “And he never had an example of a Galra that was less than cruel. I won’t defend his actions- you need to work this out for yourselves- but he should know better. His dam would have strong words with him.”

“And that’s not why we’re here,” Pidge interrupted. “We wanted to ask you about Thace… And, well-“

“Your Thace has- had- two sons, correct? Named Mayth and Zace?” Commander Holt asked. “Did he talk about them much?”

“Some.” He outlined what little he knew, mentioning that Thace hadn’t really known anything until after his sons had been executed. Commander Holt nodded to himself. 

“Clan Agamen?”

Shiro nodded to him, then tilted his head to the side. “Why do you ask?”

Commander Holt exhaled, sitting on the bed and threading his fingers together. “Shiro, I want to make sure this is the right person. And I want your advice on how to proceed. I hinted at things to K-Pidge, but I’ve not told anyone about this in… well, now it’s about twenty-seven years.” He paused. “Humanity went from flying our first airplane to putting a man on the moon in less than seventy years. But we stalled for some time. We had a _long_ hiatus to get a base up on Mars. But after that? I was the first person on our two closest habitable moons and then went out to Pluto with you.”

Shiro stared for several moments. “Commander Holt, are you saying that… that we were contacted by aliens?”

“Well. An alien, yes. Specifically, a Galra archaeologist named Agamen Mayth.”

Shiro’s mouth dropped open. “Mayth? Thace’s youngest son?”  
Commander Holt let his shoulders drop, slumping down. “I think so. He came to Earth almost thirty years ago, looking for something. I didn’t know what at the time. Is it possible that they could be different people?”

Shiro wasn’t quite sure when he sat down on the deck, but he found himself there. “Thace never talked about his Clan name much. But from what I’ve gathered, and what little I remember, Thace said implied that he was the only one left, after his sons were executed.”

Pidge sat down next to her dad, and put an arm around his shoulder. “Dad…”

“How do you think I should tell him?” He looked up at Shiro, thumbs tapping his lips. “But how do you tell someone that you’re responsible for the deaths of his children?”

To be continued.


	10. Chapter 10

Allura arrived at Matt Holt’s door to find Shiro already there. 

She hung back, just out of sight, listening to him speak, asking for Matt to let Shiro in. To let him apologize for attacking him. 

Matt refused to answer. 

Shiro continued to put his hand over the alert sensor, then to knock with his cybernetic hand. Ticks collected into dobashes, before he stopped and backed away. The Black Paladin’s face was creased frustration, old fears in his eyes. “Please. We need to talk.”

Silence.

Eventually he stopped, before backing away and coming towards her. He blinked a few times when he saw her.

“No luck?” she asked. She could feel her friends’ claws in her dress as they climbed up to her shoulder. 

“None.” Shiro looked better than the last time she had seen him: clean, eyes tired but not red, no longer smelling like grief. Confusion and frustration had replaced it, and he looked her up and down for a tick. There were questions in his eyes before he shook his head. “He answered Sam and Pidge, kind of, but he’s ignoring me. Maybe that’s for the best. I want to apologize for my actions but I’m not sure if I’m ready to forgive what he said about Akira.”

“And you?”

“I’ve heard worse,” he said with a shrug. She put a hand on his face before gripping his shoulder. “And if I ever go home I should expect more of the same.”

“You don’t deserve that, either,” she said with conviction. She may be alien to his planet’s ways, but Shiro had done nothing to warrant being lashed out like that. “And I’m glad you know what you wanted.”

He sighed, and looked down, hand over his middle. “I- thanks.” He ran his hands through his hair. “It took me a long time, but I think I finally do.” He smiled at her. It was watery and bruised but real. “What brings you out here?”

And now she was grateful for the encouragement of her small friends, whose minds were chimes in her ear. “Going to give talking to Matt a go. Sometimes speaking with a stranger is easier than a friend, and… if anyone can empathize with feelings of hate and rage at the Galra, it’s me.” Shiro’s expression darkened. “Hearing about Thace and his family, and finding out about Coran’s ancestry has, ah, helped me to confront those parts of myself that I am… not too happy with.” She hugged her arms. “My mother told me a lot of things that, that I’m learning were probably untrue. Finding a new lens to see through is hard. Perhaps I can help provide one for Matt.”

Shiro’s face cleared before he nodded, almost bowing, to her. “I hope it works. I’m going to make some plans for when Thace gets out of the pod. I need to apologize to him as well.”

Allura lifted an eyebrow. “Remember to lock the door this time.”

He coughed, looking away. “Yes ma’am.”

“Good man.”

He nodded to her again as he left, leaving Allura cracking her knuckles in nervousness. She wasn’t very good at pep talks.

But muster her courage she did, and walked to the door. She didn’t even bother to knock, or press the alert button, just used her overrides to make it open. She didn’t want to give him the opportunity to think he _could_ turn her away.

She found Matt sitting in the dark, curled up on his bed. He had made a nest of the blankets, and there was a small blizzard of used tissues around him. His nose and face were chapped from crying. 

“Wh- Princess?” he croaked out, sitting straight up. “What are you-“

“I’m here to try to get you to talk to someone, because you clearly are not going to do it by yourself,” she said sternly. She walked up to him, and he shrank away from her. She rolled her eyes. “You are making my Paladins very worried, and staying in here and pouting can’t be good for you, either.”

She crossed her arms as he looked away. “There’s nothing to say.”

“Oh, there’s _plenty_ to say,” she said. “The Galra kidnapped you, hurt you, hurt your family and friends. And it’s okay to admit it. Nothing will ever be normal for you again. You coped the only way you could, which was to hang on to this idea that didn’t match reality. And I’m sure no one could _possibly_ relate to that.” Her bitter words were just as much aimed at herself as to Matt. “It’s easy to see all of the Galra as evil, or that they treated their half-breeds like trash.”

Matt shifted his weight, but he refused to make eye contact. She sat down on the bed beside him.

“Listen. When I was a child, I actually knew Zarkon.” His head shot up at that, staring at her, and she was the one to drop her eyes first. “He was this shadow at the edge of my childhood. In those days, he and my father were close, and Zarkon treated me like a favorite niece. He would let me drag him into playing with my swords, or tea parties, or go outside to pick juniberries. He brought me treats.” She laughed, a bit. “But then my mother had my sibling, Lotor, and, and things changed. She started telling me stories about the Galra. They ate raw meat, had no families… would kill children who weren’t their own. The next time I saw Zarkon I screamed and hid. And it seemed that her stories were right. A few years later, he killed Lotor.” She laughed weakly. “Lotor was just a child. I wasn’t there to see it.”

“Princess, I’m sorry,” he said, barely above a whisper.

“My mother struck me when I saw her afterwards. I had started crying when she told me about Lotor and… I suppose she had been terribly upset.” She brushed her fingers over her face. “I had believed what she told me about the Galra for many years. But now I wonder. Zarkon had always treated me with kindness, whatever happened afterwards, and he wasn’t the only Galra I knew. Thace has been devoted to Shiro’s happiness since his arrival.” She let out a deep breath, and looked up at the ceiling. “I haven’t exactly been friendly to our new Galra. And I don’t completely trust him yet.”

“Good,” Matt muttered.

She lifted an eyebrow, before gesturing towards the fall wall, and its holoprojector came to life. She called for a few files. “I reviewed the security files.” Shiro and Thace appeared, fighting back to back, grinning fiercely and swapping their lone sword between them before the computer called the end of the simulation and both turned towards each other. Matt made a croaking sound, but not even he could deny that whatever happened there was consensual, and that Shiro was as much an instigator as Thace. She stopped before things became truly explicit. “But all of the evidence I’ve seen so far has indicated that Shiro is no frail, fragile flower. He is an equal participant, and whatever you may feel about his sex, he is not being taken advantage of.” A few more short videos played after that- most of them involving Shiro and Thace bantering, cuddling, or caring for little Akira- before she cut the feed. “I found out that one of my oldest and dearest friends has Galra blood. It was a good reminder that while I may not trust Thace with the castle itself, I do trust that he cares deeply for Shiro, for their son, and Shiro for him.”

Matt looked down. “I said some bad things.”

“Then apologize.”

“They may not be _wrong_ ,” he said stubbornly. “This- this isn’t who Shiro used to be.”

“Well, you aren’t exactly the same person either,” Allura pointed out. War changed everyone.

“Biologically, I mean.”

“If what I hear is correct, he has undergone quite a significant metamorphosis.” She sighed. “He’s not what you thought. And you had the hell surprised out of you. I don't think anyone blames you for attacking, just for your _words_.”

Matt grimaced. “The Galra made him… They changed him then they forced him to push out-“

“They did, and Shiro agreed, to save Thace’s life. And Thace cared for him and protected them as best he could, under the circumstances. Akira is loved, by his dam and sire.” She was careful not to bring up all of the details. “You do not have to like Thace. You can still mourn your maybes and couldhavebeens. But don't get angry at others for it.”

Matt grunted. “I see your point, princess. Just… Give me some more time.”

“Very well. But remember that you are not alone. And you are welcome to return to us at any time. And don't give up on finding a romantic partner. We will probably return to Earth sooner rather than later now.” It was starting to feel appropriate, to give her Paladins closure. “You may still reproduce. Your species still exists.”

Matt snorted, then smiled at her. “Thank you, princess.”

She got to her feet, nodded at him, and left.

~*~*~*~*~

Keith was checking the cryo-refresher after handing a sleeping, content Akira back to a very grateful Shiro.

He looked up at Thace, rubbing his chin and wondering what to do.

Keith only dimly remembered his father. He remembered him being huge, purple when he wasn’t wearing that mask, warm and furry. He remembered being held against a broad, rumbling chest as a child. His father speaking in Galra, making him listen and repeat the words of his stories so that they would always be with him, even if Mayth couldn’t be. 

He had liked raw eggs and milk. Had discovered bluegrass and would drive his mother crazy with it, who would turn up her K-pop even louder. They teased each other with Princess Bride references: his mother would gleefully boss him around and his answer was, always, “As you wish.” 

They never missed an opportunity to touch. Once, in kindergarten, he had asked his mom why they were always kissing. Her smile had been genuine, but not quite reaching her eyes. 

“Because we never know if this kiss will be the last.”

Keith took a step back, away, scratching the back of his head in thought. Lance wasn’t going to leave him alone, now that he knew, and-

Commander Holt walked in, almost walking into Keith because his eyes were cast to the deck, not watching where he was going. 

He stopped just before they would have collided, and Keith nodded to him, about to walk past him to leave-

“You’re Miku Kogane’s boy, aren’t you?” he asked, quietly, looking at the cryo-refresher. 

Keith stopped. Licked his lips. He turned to face the Commander, who was smiling at him now. 

The order to _keep quiet_ and _don’t talk about your father_ had been repeated, over and over again, since his father had left. His mother had kept him away from most people, off the grid, switching schools every year for most of his childhood. 

But that secret was… kind of a moot point, out here, millions of light years from Earth, when he had gotten to hold his halfbreed uncle in his arms. 

Cautiously, he nodded at the older human. Sam Holt’s smile widened. 

“You look just like her, you know. Miku was a dear friend of my wife and I.” He paused. “So was your father.”

Keith didn’t know where the rather strangled sound came from. Other than himself.

“Given that reaction, I’ll assume that you haven’t told anyone here yet.” Holt crossed his arms. “It’s your decision.” 

Keith wouldn’t meet his eyes. “Soon. I’ve tried. I’m just… how do you tell someone that you’re the grandchild your son was too ashamed to tell you about?”

Holt blinked. “That was never the case. Mayth was never ashamed of you. From the way Mayth talked, Galra politics tend to be… Machiavellian. They didn’t stab each other in the back so often as have knives coming in from all directions. He left because he couldn’t put it off any longer, and he couldn’t allow any hint of his true mission to show. Even to his father.”

Keith exhaled, then peered at Thace. “How do I explain that I look _nothing_ like a Galra? Akira couldn’t be mistaken for human.” _Nor should I._

“Mayth had been researching… well, I think he was researching the owners of this castle. The Alteans. And they didn’t seem to appreciate halfbreeds. He had discovered a treatment to make the dam’s- and it was almost always the dam who was a different species- appearance almost one hundred percent dominant.” Holt gave him a lopsided smile. “He would be proud that you finished his work, finding the Alteans.”

Keith ducked his head, shuffling his feet. He felt, weirdly, shy at the praise. “I had help.”

“That’s even better.” Holt scratched his chin. “It’s your choice to tell him, and I can vouch for you, if that means anything. But I won’t do it until you offer.” He chuckled then. “And won’t _that_ make your relationship with Shiro awkward?”

Keith, somehow, managed to squeak again.

~*~*~*~*~

Thace heard the hiss of the ‘refresher, feeling warm air stir through his fur, and opened his eyes.

Everything was hazy, swimming around for a split second. Sounds came down a long tube.

Ah. Shiro was calling his name.

“Yes?” he mumbled, moving forward and reaching out. Shiro thrust something made of fabric into his hands- ah. One of his robes. Thace wasn’t particularly bothered by his nudity, and Shiro hadn’t been when they were alone, but better not to upset his hosts.

“Just asking how you felt,” he said as Thace tried to put on the robe. An unexpected sharp pain went through his shoulder as he stretched, and making him growl in surprise, quickly dropping his arm.

Shiro made a sound like a dying animal, reaching out to touch the dried blood still crusting his fur.

“This will pass,” he assured Shiro, who would not be deterred from forcing him to bend so Shiro could help him get on his robe. “It is nothing to be con-“

Shiro kissed him, and put his hands over Thace’s ears to keep him bent down. “I appreciate that you do not want me to worry, but I am an adult who cares about your wellbeing. I asked how you felt. Give me a straight answer, you condescending bastard.”

Thace tried to flick his ears but they were trapped. “Cold, tired and hungry. And my back is getting sore.”

Shiro let him go so he could straighten to his full height. “I thought that might be the case.”

“Akira?”

“He’s with Keith and Lance. They won't admit it, but I think they’re practicing a bit.”

Thace nodded as Shiro continued to fuss, tying Thace’s robe without asking. “If they plan on having their own whelps that would be wise of them,” Thace said. To his bemusement, Shiro started tugging Thace out and down the hall. No one seemed to be about. 

“Let’s get you cleaned up,” Shiro muttered to himself. He wasn't looking directly at Thace as they walked. “Akira… I had a lot of blood on me and it upset him. Let’s avoid that now that you’re here.”

Thace didn't want to try to refute that assertion. So he didn't. What did surprise him was Shiro insisting on helping out of his robes and following him, also nude, into the shower. The move had been planned, obviously, because there was a Galra sized stool there, one that would put him down at human height.

He cocked his head and ears at Shiro, who colored red as Thace took a seat. 

“I- sort of remember helping each other wash from when before Akira was born. I thought,” he said, and sighed. “Just let me, okay?”

Thace nodded, letting Shiro grab the curry combs to do a thorough brushing before getting wet. 

At some point Shiro dropped the combs, just running his fingers through his mane and fur. He was tracing every seam, whorl and knot he could find on Thace’s hide.

He heard, but didn't see, when Shiro found something big under his shoulder blade.

“That wasn't your friend,” he offered. “The Altean tech did an excellent job.”

Shiro croaked out a laugh. “Really? What-“

“Don't dwell on it. You have no reason to feel guilty, my Shiro.” Thace recognized what Shiro was feeling easily enough. 

“I'm sorry. I wasn't thinking. I should have realized-“

“Part of the fun of public sex is the fear of getting caught. The worst I would have anticipated was one of your cohort coming in, and perhaps being embarrassed. I feel no shame in others knowing I can make you scream,” Thace went on, and he meant it. “I was not unhappy that you have friends willing to spring to your defense. Though I didn't expect for him to act like a jealous lover.”

This time it was Shiro who growled. He didn't quite have the chest or vocal cords for it, but he did the best he could with what he had. Thace was rather impressed.

“I was never interested in Matt that way,” Shiro muttered. “We were close friends. He tried to hint, a few times, that he would like to be more. But he never said anything and I…”

“I take it he feared rejection?”

“That’s my best guess.” Shiro found a spot between Thace’s shoulders that had him arching his back and purring. Shiro scratched even harder with a laugh, before reaching for soap and a sponge. “But I would have said no regardless. I didn’t want to hurt his feelings, so I didn’t try to point things out. I didn't exactly have much interest in sex at the time.”

“You were preparing for a dangerous mission. But I was not your first partner, I think.” 

Shiro leaned into his back. “You, um, _remember_ me shifting?” he said, and paused, and sighed. “But no, I had fooled around before. I hadn’t enjoyed it.” His tone shifted upward, uncertain. 

“And you are wondering why you were attracted to an old condescending bastard alien?”

“I know _why_ ,” Shiro said, and Thace’s ears twitched despite himself as Shiro walked around to look him in the eyes. His lips had curled into a smile, before pressing their foreheads together. “But… I had felt sort of attracted to people before you. Just not the way I was when I met you. Or now, for that matter.”

Thace nipped his chin, and sighed. “You are wondering when and where the druids started changing you, and if this was one of those changes?”

Shiro shifted uneasily, stepping away from Thace. “I can’t say they didn’t.”

“No. We can’t. But I can say that we were likely put together as a means to manipulate us both.” Thace wanted to reach out and touch Shiro… but he wasn’t sure how well it would be received. “I cared little about my own death, but give me someone under my protection, and I will fight for them, regardless of romantic relationship.” He put out his paw, offering, not willing to try to take even if he desperately wanted to touch Shiro right then. “As for you, I think you were paired with me because I would be sympathetic. Perhaps they wanted to breed you and thought it would be easier if your partner was someone you liked.”

Shiro scowled, but he stepped in close again, taking Thace’s hand. “Probably slit my own throat as soon as I could, if someone like Sendak got hold of me.” He went back to scrubbing down Thace’s chest in silence for a while. Thace couldn’t find words for a few moments, wondering what Shiro needed to hear.

It always amused him how fascinated Shiro could be with his body, even after all of this time. He tried to be sneaky about it even now, inspecting the way his fingers and knuckles bent, the different muscle groups. His reaction to finding that Thace had two rows of nipples to Shiro’s one (and Thace had to admit, that seemed strange) had been amusing. Yet he had no objections to Shiro touching him; being groomed by gentle hands was always a pleasure.

“I was not changed the way you were,” Thace said finally, after Shiro had finished rinsing him off. “But I do not regret what has happened since meeting you.” And admitting his feelings was always frightening, even more than pain. “I do love you. And if you want to redefine our relationship-“

Shiro jumped. “No- _no_. I-“ he stopped and ran his fingers through his hair, eyes wide. “I just. Matt pointed out that I used to be someone very different before all of this happened.” He exhaled. “And the idea bothered me more than I wanted to admit.”

Thace nodded. “The idea of coupling with me unsettles you now?” he asked, feeling his ears flatten in dread.

“NO!” Shiro sputtered, before calming. “No. I’m unsettled by the idea of something changing my personality. My body changing… I’m at peace with that. But the druids hid my memories of you, of our Akira.” He put his cybernetic hand at the base of Thace’s neck, where the fur had grown in backwards. “I nearly killed you.”

Thace covered the hand with his own. 

“What happened to you is terrible. Would anyone be the same afterwards, even without the druids?” Thace answered. “I don’t know. I suppose my question is… are you unhappy with who you are now?”

Shiro grunted, before leaning forward and putting his face in Thace’s right shoulder. “I love you. I’m happy _being_ with you, and hell. I like having sex with you in crazy places. What I’m afraid of is being turned into a weapon against my will, or becoming some breeding bitch in a kennel.”

“I would love to get more whelps on you,” Thace said softly. “But no one here will pressure you. You are not alone, and anyone who would wish to take you back to the druids would have to go through all of your friends, as well as me, to get to you.”

Shiro pulled back, and Thace carefully wiped the tears off his face. “You know, I was all set to pamper you for change. Give you a good grooming, massage, and here you are consoling _me_.”

“We’re partners.” He ran his fingers through Shiro’s hair. “I am happy to do so.”

Shiro hugged him, quickly, and Thace held him for several moments before he pulled back, and made a face. “Let’s get you dried and dressed. I can brush you again.” Thace made a sound that was embarrassingly similar to noises he made in bed. “You’re vain.”

“Hm.” He didn’t bother to deny or confirm. Just enjoyed Shiro touching him again as he was urged to his feet. The driers quickly evaporated the water from his fur, and what was left Shiro patted dry with a towel. It was warm and pleasant and something Shiro had never done before, even as Thace took shameless advantage of it.

“Am I dying?” he asked after a few moments of Shiro carefully using the metal file to dull his talons. (Something Thace did often; whelps and humans were delicate).

Shiro blinked at him. He was still naked; they both were, having dumped clothing into the recyclers and were waiting for them to finish. “No..?”

“Ah. And Akira is well?”

Shiro was more than tactician enough to realize where this was coming from. “I do want you relaxed. You deserve it. But… Yes. I have news. Whether you consider it bad or not, I don’t know.” He took a deep breath. “You remember how the Resistance thought they had a mole, who had leaked the information about your sons?”

Thace went very, very still. “Yes.”

“It wasn’t a traitor, or a mole. We found out how they were uncovered while you were healing,” Shiro said softly, and swallowed. “And it seems that your boys had been to Earth before.”

Thace didn’t know if he could breathe. “Tell me more.”

“I should let Commander Holt tell it. Let’s get dressed and go find him.”

~*~*~*~*~

Akira nearly spilled out of Keith’s arms when Thace and Shiro came back into the common area.

The General, despite moving like someone who had seen a ghost, was quick to catch the squirmy whelp, who cooed and squealed at seeing his sire. Keith tried apologize, but Thace waved him off, bouncing the cub in his arms. Akira started babbling and blowing bubbles, waving his little hands at his sire and, somehow, Keith could imagine the cub trying hard to tell Thace _all about_ his exciting day. At least, that was how Thace seemed to take it, nodding seriously whenever Akira paused to take breath.

Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Lance giving him a not-so-subtle glance. Trying to get him to _spill the beans_ already. 

Keith didn’t budge.

Everyone was watching the oncoming tableau; somehow Allura had even talked Matt out of his room, and he was sitting with his family. He had heard some of Pidge’s rant… probably because it had been going, almost continuously, since Matt had come out of hiding. On the opposite side was Commander Holt, who looked like a man waiting for a firing squad. Hunk was in the background, puttering away with Coran in the kitchen.

Commander Holt stood, walking over to the General. Both sat down, and even then, the Galra towered over the older human. Keith could barely hear what was being said. An introduction. An explanation: Mayth had been investigating not just the Blue Lion, but the presence of the ancient Alteans on Earth. He had stayed after he was discovered to help Earth prepare itself, as best he could, for the oncoming storm. Commander Holt had known him, and the druids found out of his presence on Earth by searching through Holt’s memory.

He made no mention of Mayth’s family. He only alluded to relationships with other humans. 

So why didn’t Keith relax? 

Maybe because Thace seemed to be taking all of this with incredibly good grace. His face maintained the same stony calm that characterized any interaction that did not directly involve Shiro or Akira. (Or the time he had praised Keith’s fighting…)

Except that after weeks of practicing with him, Keith had learned a little of his body language. His ears were not flat, that would have been too much of a tell, but there was a faint twitch back and forth. The muscles of his neck, shoulders and arms were tense, and he could see the moment the Galra’s weight shifted minutely, like he did when he was about to lunge-

Only for Akira to get the hiccups. 

Thace blinked, several times, expression unchanging as he looked down at Akira who looked incredibly concerned about this recent development. 

“Thank you for informing me as to what happened,” Thace said briskly. His arms had tightened around Akira, who continued to hiccup. “I- I am going to-“ He stood quickly and left.

Shiro was left standing there, eyes huge. Then he pinched the bridge of his nose, just under his scar. “I’m going to go check on him,” Shiro said. “He… I get the feeling that dug up a lot of shit that he’s not dealt with yet.”

“Good idea,” Coran answered, coming out with Hunk. Both of them were wearing aprons. “Galra do not grieve well on their own.” He was frowning. “In the old days, you called all of your littermates when there was a death to sing the bereavement song together.”

Shiro paused. “Full litters survived in your time?”

“Occasionally the runt wouldn’t.” Coran twirled his mustache. “But only when the queen’s care has not ill-tended to, and it was a stain on Clan honor to allow that to happen. Why?”

Shiro looked troubled, gaze turning inwards. “How big was your litter?”

“There were five of us, but we were mostly Altean so that was normal.”

Shiro looked a little sick. “That’s a pretty big change,” he whispered before running after Thace.

“That could have gone better,” Commander Holt muttered. He wove back and forth on his feet. The sight of him distracted Keith to the point where he didn’t notice the figure in blue come up until he was popped on the head.

“Ow!” He whirled around to find Lance in his face, who was pointing after them.

“Go!” Lance yelled, waving his arms. “Just go!” Everyone was looking at him like he was a madman… which wasn’t too unusual from normal. Lance ignored them and slapped Keith on the ass. “Babe- GO!”

“All right already!” Keith growled, making a real growl despite himself. He trotted off.

He hoped his courage, or at least Lance’s disappointment, was enough to get him in the room. 

To be continued.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have not finished watching all of season two, and I will probably add some elements of it later on, but I knew going in that it would Joss most of my characterization. I'm not terribly wrong, but not exactly right, either. Wish me luck.


	11. Chapter 11

_“Daddy?”_

_“Oh, Spirits of the Lions, tell me you_ didn’t _,” a small voice hissed. Mayth looked down to see his brother’s ears pinned back. “Lie if you have to.”_

_Keith was standing in the doorway of the small room he used as an office; it was the latest in a series of dwellings he and Miku had shared to let Keith begin his education._

_“Yes, son?” he said quietly as his little boy wandered in, eyes heavy with sleep. “What’s wrong?” He picked up Keith without thinking, settling him into his lap. He promptly snuggled close._

_“You picked up another stray,” Zace muttered, his tone long-suffering. “Mayth. What were you-“_

_“Who’s that?”_

_“This is your Uncle Zace, Keith. Say hello.”_

_Keith peered at the hologram. “Hi! You’re small.”_

_Zace promptly laughed. “Yes. I shrank in my last bath.” He looked Keith over, and Mayth absently stroked Keith’s cheek with his thumb, causing the boy to purr._

_Zace’s eyes widened. “It’s good to meet you. So… you’re Keith?”_

_Keith nodded, eyes starting to droop closed._

_“Mayth?” a voice called, and Miku came in, short hair mussed and wearing one of Mayth’s shirts like a robe over her shorts. “Honey, what-“ and she stopped. Stared._

_“You still want me to lie, Zace?” Mayth said softly._

_His ears pinned back again, before offering Miku a bow. “For putting up with my foolish sibling, I salute you and give you greetings. My name is Agamen Zace. Well met.”_

_Miku returned the bow. “Miku Kogane.” She looked back and forth between Mayth and Zace. “Someone had to keep this idiot out of trouble.”_

_“We agree on that.” Zace’s ears were twitching._

_“Love, would you mind taking Keith back to bed?” Mayth whispered. “I need to finish this.” She hesitated. “I’ll fill you in afterwards.” She nodded to him, hauling Keith out of his lap. He looked so much bigger in her arms. Mayth could pick them both up and barely notice the weight._

_There was silence for several moments, but he never doubted that Miku would be eavesdropping._

_“So you used that damned nanobot virus.”_

_Mayth flinched. “Yes.”_

_“That shit was ten thousand years old.”_

_“It worked.”_

_“I can see that,” Zace said. “Fuck it, Mayth. What the hell have you done? They aren’t your little birds, or even the snufflepod.”_

_Mayth flinched again, before baring his teeth. “I know that, Miku knew what she was getting into being with me-“_

_“And so did the boy, of course.”_

_Mayth sucked in a breath and looked away._

_“Tell me you found what you were looking for, at least,” Zace said wearily. “And you have an extraction plan set up.”_

_“I found it.”_

_“But you want me to cover for you so you can stay longer,” Zace mumbled. He pinched the skin between his brows. “So I take it that the original plan is out the fucking window?”_

_“There is a lot more ancient tech here,” Mayth said. “And the weapon. I could spend decades-“_

_“You don’t have that long. Look- I can put off your return for a few more years. But that’s it,” Zace said, before sighing. “That’s the best I can do. The Emperor’s obsession with finding Voltron is bordering on madness.”_

_Mayth swallowed._

_“Listen. I get it. But you put them in even more danger by staying. I’ll let people know that your pod had maintenance issues, that you can’t get spare parts in because the natives are capable enough to cause trouble. But you have stayed so long they have to realize_ something _is up.”_

_“I-“_

_“I’ve had to talk Papa down from a rescue mission twice now.”_

_Mayth palmed his face._

_“You’ve not spoken to him in years. The least you could do is message him and tell him you haven’t been eaten by natives. Too bad you can’t tell him about your son. Maybe he would lay off of me.” They shared a brief, rueful smile._

_“I wish I could.” Mayth found himself cracking his knuckles. “I never realized how much Papa_ wasn’t _an idiot until Keith was born.”_

_Zace, the asshole, laughed. “What’s this? You acknowledging that our sire isn’t full of shit for once?”_

_Mayth leaned back, looking towards the darkened hallway and the small warm shape that lingered just out of sight. “Maybe. I miss him. I even miss you, you son of a yepper.”_

_Zace was silent for a few moments. “I can be out there in a few months.”_

_“Wait, what?” Mayth felt his heart quicken. “Really?”_

_“We have to make a new plan for your extraction when this mess fucks off into the void, anyways. And I like your queen. I want to meet them.”_

_Some of the tension went out of Mayth’s shoulders. “Thank you, brother.”_

_“Just remember I told you so when you get us killed,” he said briskly. “And tell me what kind of a present I should get for my nephew.”_

~*~*~*~*~*~

Thace had maybe a two-minute head start on Shiro.

What Shiro had forgotten was that, for someone who was so big and _claimed_ to be old, he was one quick, nimble bastard who could disappear without a trace faster than anyone Shiro had ever known. Galra weren’t ninjas, but they came awfully close.

He considered where Thace would go; the training room would be a good place for him to blow off steam but he still had Akira. Endangering their son was something he just wouldn’t do. 

That left either the library or their room. He turned towards their quarters- they were closer- and ran down the halls, mentally labelling each Paladin’s room until he got to the room he shared with Thace. 

He waved his hand over the sensor. 

The door started to open, before the sound of metal squealing made him clap his hands over his ears as the door stopped and refused to budge.

Probably on account of the giant dent in it.

That was when he became aware of the pounding. 

It echoed up and down the halls. Heavy, bone jarring thuds that sounded wet and solid like flesh on metal and-

Shiro lit his hand, tearing open the metal of the door like a can opener and shoving it aside, stepping in the dark room and waving his hands over the light sensor-

Around him was wreckage. The mattress was upended and the bedding scattered. One of the crates was smashed. The mirror was shattered. Drops of blood made a trail to where Thace was standing, punching the wall over and over again, leaving bits of fur and skin.

“ _Thace!_ ” he cried, frantically looking around the room. He couldn’t see Akira-

The punching didn’t stop, leaving cracks in the metal wall. 

“Thace, stop!” Shiro yelled, trying to get into his line of sight. “Thace, where is Akira-“

He flung his arm to the side, pointing towards the basinet. The basinet which was standup upright, and the sound baffles (which they discovered purely by accident and had been incredibly grateful for) were on, and the curtain around it closed.

None of Akira’s things were scattered or trashed. 

Just Thace’s own.

Even Shiro’s clothes were fine.

He gulped, his stomach twisting in knots as he turned back to his mate, who had resumed trying to break down the wall or crush his own fists. “Thace, please. Stop.”

The sound Thace made was something between a growl and a sob, but he continued on.

“Thace- you can’t keep this up-“

The cant of his ears quite clearly said that he intended to. 

Shiro took a deep breath and darted in, getting between Thace and the wall, both hands defensively-

The blow landed five centimeters above his head. “Thace, you’re hurting yourself,” Shiro whispered, putting his hands on Thace’s chest. Thace stepped back like he had been burned and turned his back on Shiro. 

“Who else,” Thace asked, voice low and gravelly, “is there for me to hurt? Your friend is not at fault, even if I _want_ to sink my talons in his entrails. You dealt with Sendak. And Zarkon.” He stopped. Snarled, like an enraged beast, grabbing his own arms and dragging his talons through his own flesh. “ _Zarkon_ is beyond my reach. Who else is there, who is guilty of what happened to them? Who else can I punish but myself for allowing this to happen?”

“It’s not your fault,” Shiro said, darting around in front of him, lunging to grab Thace’s wrists before he could reach his for face. “It is not your fault. They were adults who made their own choices and they chose not to tell you.”

“Why?” Thace asked, just above a whisper. “Didn’t they trust me?”

Shiro swallowed. “I don’t know. But they must have felt it was worth it.” He looked down at the raw flesh of Thace’s knuckles, feeling the air freeze in his lungs. 

“I should have been able to protect them, regardless,” Thace went on, helplessly. “I should have been able to keep _you_ safe-“

“You did everything you could.” 

“I could have died with them.” He fell to his knees. “I should have.”

Shiro’s eyes felt hot. “Then we never would have met.” He dropped Thace’s hands in favor of wrapped his arms around his head, pulling Thace’s face to his chest. “I can only guess at what you’re feeling right now. But I know you, and I know you would have done what you could have to protect them.” He stroked Thace’s forehead and jaw like he had seen Thace do with Akira when he was upset. 

“I never told them,” Thace whispered, voice hoarse and choked. “I never told them how I much I loved them. How proud I was. They were amazing, Shiro. So beautiful, so brave. I should have told them every day.” 

“You did, Thace.” He pressed his lips to Thace’s head, just over his crest, tears finally spilling over. “I’ve seen you with Akira. If you were _anything_ like how you are with Akira with them, then they _knew_. They knew you loved them, because you’re a great father. And I love you so, so much.”

“I’m so sorry I couldn’t do protect you from the druids,” Thace said. “I’m-“

“Agamen Thace, who feels like he has to stand between everyone and their fate,” Shiro said, sniffling and laughing weakly. “You can mourn. It’s okay. You don’t have to be strong for me right now. I’m pretty damn sturdy, remember. Let me keep prop you up for a while.” He could feel heat flowing off of Thace while he trembled.

_Galra don’t cry_ , he reminded himself. But he needed to vent his feelings somehow.

Thace buried his face in Shiro’s shoulder, and started to scream.

~*~*~*~*~*~

Keith wasn’t quite sure how long it was until he got to Shiro and Thace’s quarters. He couldn’t have been more than five minutes behind.

Five minutes could be a very, very long time, it seemed.

He stopped dead in his tracks when he saw the door, melted through and torn from the wall. 

“Shiro?” he called, walking inside. He could smell tears and blood and… oh.

Shiro was rocking Thace back and forth as the big Galra made sounds like a dying animal, whispering soothing nonsense while his own face was streaked with tears. His eyes went wide as he saw Keith, and he let go of Thace, stepping between them.

“You better be careful with that,” he said, eyes dropping to Keith’s-

Oh. _Oh_. Well, that was stupid. He had drawn his dagger without thinking when he had smelled blood. “No! I- sorry.” He brought his hands up. “I- I- do you have a minute?”

Shiro blinked incredulously. “Now’s not a great time-“

“I mean Gen- I mean Mr. Agamen. Thace. Sir. I… Well. You see.” And now that the time had come, Keith couldn’t find the words. Not when the man himself was looking like his soul was threadbare and his knuckles were split open.

But his eyes were sharp. “Where did you get that blade?”

“I-“ Keith stopped, and took a deep breath, and pulled free its wrapping. The symbol on the hilt glowed even in the light of the room. “My uncle gave it to me when I was six, since… since I was the first grandchild.” 

Shiro’s eyebrows went up, while Thace’s jaw went slack.

Keith licked his lips, before, haltingly, he started speaking in Galra. Specifically, he began the last stanza of the begats in the family epic:

“Out of Kace, of nine, came Thace, Izlea and Sendak, and Thace, of fourteen, came Zace, Mayth and Akira.” Keith, who had ducked his eyes, brought them back up to meet Thace’s. “Out of Mayth, of one, came Keith.”

Thace’s eyes were massive, taking up half his face. “Are you saying…”

Keith shuffled his feet, not able to look at Shiro right then. “Agamen Mayth was on Earth for about fifteen years. He met a woman, an Omega, named Miku Kogane. She hit him with her car. Dad said he fell in love with her when she threw rocks at him. He had a weird sense of humor.” 

He could feel Shiro’s eyes on him, and he risked a glance to see the shock on his face. “I should have told you after, well, after we got into space. I don’t know why I don’t look like Akira does. Just that Dad found something and used it to make me look human. But Uncle Zace gave me the dagger and…” He hesitated again, before gripping it, letting it change into its sword form. “He wanted to make sure I was. Um. Your blood.”

Shiro had one arm around Thace’s shoulders as he kept staring. “I gave that blade to Zace when he came of age. It’s meant to go to the first son of each generation. I thought… I thought Sendak had taken it.”

Keith shook his head. “I- I meant to tell you earlier.” He kept looking down, and let the blade revert to its dagger form. “Just. I knew he hadn’t told you about me and. And. And… They wanted to protect you, because they knew what was happening was dangerous and they knew you had lost a lot of people you loved. That many people under your command had been purged and you felt responsible. They didn’t want to worry you.”

Thace blinked at him slowly, before reaching out one hand to Keith’s face. “You are my grandson.”

Keith let him, stepping closer and allowing his jaw to be stroked. “Yeah. He used to tell me the story, the one about the red lion, to make me sleep. He said you told it to him. Said that the reason he went out into archaeology was because of the stories you told about exploring, when you were younger. He told me about seeing the Temple of the Lion Riders and how-“

“You’re really Mayth’s son,” Thace said after a moment. His other hand came up. The knuckles looked like raw meat, but Keith didn’t flinch. 

Thace tugged, carefully, and Keith let himself be drawn to Thace’s chest and tucked under his chin. 

It had been over a decade since Keith had been hugged by his dad. And while the smell was a little different, the purr that rumbled up through his chest was almost identical. 

He answered with his own. 

Shiro coughed, and Keith glanced over to him, to see that he was watery-eyed but smiling. “Well. Obvious in hindsight. You said he reminded you of yourself, Thace, when you were younger. What else did you call him? Cute tiny angry tom?” His smile got wider. “And the resemblance _is_ uncanny. You’re both serious, you both like swords, can’t tell a good joke, both are emotionally constipated. It was all right there in front of us.”

Both he and Thace were looking at Shiro, then back at each other, and back again. 

“I’m just saying.” More staring and blinking. “I can see the resemblance.” Neither Keith or Thace seemed to have any words. “Call me Nana and I’ll hurt you, Keith.”

Keith choked down a laugh. “I won’t. But I can’t make any promises about Lance.”

Shiro looked like he had swallowed his tongue.

~*~*~*~*~*~

Thace felt the little angry tom, Keith, rumble back at him and his soul clenched in both joy and loss. Shiro had told him a little of Keith’s life, enough to know that it had not been a happy one. That his grandson had been left like this…

“Do you two want me to go?” Shiro asked after a moment. “I imagine you two want time to talk.”

“No,” both he and Keith said at the same time, pulling back to look at each other. Keith looked about as sheepish as he felt. “We are partners, and I would feel the lack of your company, Shiro,” Thace said.

“You’re like a brother to me,” Keith added. 

Shiro’s smile was small and fragile, before he turned towards the bed, grabbed a bunch of blankets and draped them over Thace’s shoulders. He easily wormed his way into Thace’s lap, and made himself comfortable. 

“Keith. So. Tell me about your life. Where did you live? What was your schooling like? Shiro told me some of your story when we awaited Akira’s birth, but only in passing,” and now Thace regretted not asking more, but it seemed that Shiro did not know either. “Shiro mentioned that humans typically go to school and do… club activities? Did you? Did Mayth teach you to fight? Your dam, did you know her? What was she like?” 

Keith pulled away.

“Easy, Big Guy,” Shiro said. His smile had slid into charmed as he took one of Thace’s hands. “Another thing Keith has in common with you is that he doesn’t talk much about himself.” He looked at Keith and pointed his thumb at Thace’s chest. “I didn’t get his family name until _after_ Akira was born. You get the whole broody, silent, lone wolf thing honestly.”

“I do not brood.”

“Yes, you do.”

“I think things through.” Thace found himself smiling as Shiro kissed his mane.

“You do. But you also brood.”

Thace snorted and flicked his ears. Keith, in turn, had a faint and shy smile starting on his face. “My dam was a pilot like Shiro. She married my dad a few years after he came to Earth.”

Thace tilted his head to the side, squeezing Shiro’s hand. “She did? How did they do it? Being partners I understand but you make it sound different.”

“Uh-“ Keith’s face went blank. “Usually there’s… you talk to a priest or a judge or a, I don’t know, a captain and you make a promise and you exchange rings and have a party.”

“Hm… rings?” That struck something in Thace’s memory. “I think… I want to get up.” Both Shiro and Keith moved, letting him to his feet. He ignored the pain in his hands as he shifted through the shattered crate, finding the box with Mayth’s effects. 

The grief still sat in his belly like a hollow, sour pit, but the pain had dulled enough that he could look at the box without screaming. Without wanting to fall on his own sword. And perhaps make a bridge between himself and Keith…

He flipped open the lid.

There wasn’t much. Both had been arrested almost as soon as they had confessed to Sendak they needed help; there were the usual things you might find in someone’s pockets. A writing implement, a quantum storage unit, some spare coins. But there had been something inside that had puzzled him until that moment.

He pulled out the ball chain. The chain was threaded through three objects. Two of them were rectangles with rounded edges, one was plain and the other was colorful to the point of childish. The third object was a golden band.

Thace held the chain in front of him, and Keith put out his hand.

“That’s… that’s one of Mom’s dog tags. Dad’s wedding ring. My- I made- I made that for- it was this stupid little machine at the store and I asked why Mom had tags and Dad didn’t so we made a set and I gave it to him and it said ‘Dad’ and-“ the young tom’s eyes were glossy wet as they were dropped into his palm. “He kept them?” His voice rose. “All these years and he kept them?”

Thace nodded. 

Keith’s face crumpled as he fought to breathe. “I thought he hated me so he didn’t come back-“

Thace brought Keith to his chest, holding him tightly and drawing in Shiro as well. They both held the young tom, and they grieved together.

Finally letting the pain ease.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have finished watching Voltron season 2. As I thought, most of this story is completely jossed, but, well, that's to be expected. Thace was an original character in a reboot series. He had a bullseye on the back of his shirt. As for Shiro's fate... they undid the massive cliffhanger from the previous season in about two episodes. So I'm not going to call him dead yet, especially given his enormous popularity. But I'm glad I've made a story that people have enjoyed and will try to bring it to an end. Wish me luck.


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> content warning for character death (mentioned)

Shiro ran his fingers through his hair as he reluctantly drew away from both Thace and Keith. He couldn’t help but feel on the outside, just a bit, as he listened to Keith slowly, haltingly, start talking about his parents. It was more than he had gotten out of Keith in eight years.

He had known Keith since Keith was fourteen years old, and was a skinny scrap of anger and loneliness who wouldn’t say two words to anyone about anything. Shiro had volunteered for the Big Brother program at the Garrison because… well. He had always felt that if he could help, he should. 

He had never regretted it.

And now, it turned out that Keith was the son of Agamen Mayth, making him the grandson of his partner… who was the father of Shiro’s half-alien baby. 

His life was an episode of some old talk show. A space talk show. 

Both Thace and Keith looked at him as he sat on his heels, and Thace lifted his arm in obvious invitation to come back, but Shiro just shook his head. He didn’t plan to leave. Instead, he went to the bathroom and found the tiny first aid kit he had seen there before; it looked enough like what the arena masters had used when they were actually concerned about their charges’ health for him to recognize it.

He brought it back and sat next to Thace, taking his hand into his lap. Thace didn’t resist, instead having the grace to look sheepish.

“No judgements here,” Shiro said after a moment, inspecting the split skin, checking for broken bones. It was a miracle that Thace hadn’t shattered his fists. Then again, his bones seemed far denser than a human’s, with thick pads that Shiro assumed were callouses across his palms and over his knuckles. “How long between losing your sons, and being thrown in the arena?”

“Little more than a day,” Thace answered. Keith made sound, and Thace held him a bit tighter. 

“And then you were taking care of me,” Shiro muttered, and he started dabbing the wounds clean. He gave Thace a smile. “I love you.” 

Thace didn’t answer in words, but brushed his thumb over Shiro’s lips, and his fingers over Shiro’s cheek. 

Keith had already ducked his eyes and was blushing.

Shiro finished cleaning Thace’s knuckles; they seemed to have already scabbed, and begun knitting themselves back up. He had noted before that Thace seemed to heal faster when he was purring. It seemed that being with others increased the effect. 

Both Thace and Shiro reacted to the sound at the same time; they had heard often enough. It was that sound of heavy breathing, the prelude to an unhappy cry. Thace tensed, but Shiro moved more quickly, getting to his feet and walking to the basinet before Thace could spill both himself and Keith.

Thace flicked an ear at him, and Shiro stuck out his tongue.

“Our leader, ladies and gentlemen,” Keith mumbled. Shiro ignored him in favor of pulling back the curtains to check on Akira.

His little face was scrunched up; a quick check showed he needed a change. Shiro must have pulled a face.

“I think it’s my turn,” Thace offered. 

“I just cleaned your hands,” Shiro answered. Not that he was unwilling. He hated diapers.

“I use gloves anyways,” Thace replied. He flicked his fingers, showing his talons. “Safer that way.”

Keith scooted away as Thace got to his feet as well, and shook his head as he took Akira from a much relieved Shiro.

“Big, scary Galra… changes diapers like a pro,” Keith said, not bothering to hide his smile. 

“He also checks Akira in his sleep,” Shiro said to Keith, who choked. “No, I mean it. I’ve woken up to find him standing over the crib and picking Akira up, patting him, and just sort of folding down on himself and sleeping up against the crib.”

Thace’s ears flicked backwards towards him. “I was not asleep.”

Shiro’s smile widened. “So that would explain why you called me Ulaz and asked me for the medical examiner’s report.”

Thace exhaled. “Maybe I was asleep.” He was already easing his hands into a pair of nearby gloves. Shiro shook his head, absently leaning his weight onto Thace’s back, burying his face there. 

“Are you feeling better, Mr. Thace?” Keith asked after a moment. Shiro looked over his shoulder to see Keith was hugging his knees. 

Thace, who had gotten Akira’s pajamas unsealed and off, and already played defense with the clean diaper as he removed the soiled one, risked a glance back at Keith. “You don’t have to acknowledge our relationship in public, if you so wish,’” he said, before looking down at Akira and tickling his tiny feet. The response was a delighted squeal and gasps of almost-laughter. “But you do not have to call me by a formal name.”

Keith swallowed. “I never had a grandfather before. My mom’s parents were gone by the time I was born, and Dad, well. It’s something to get used to. But… I’m not. I’m not _ashamed_ of my Dad. He wanted to protect Earth and he fought against the Empire. I’m okay with letting the others know.”

“Lance will probably call you Space Gramps at the first opportunity, though,” Shiro said, voice muffled from where his cheek was pressed into Thace. He heard Akira continue to chortle as Thace wiped him down. 

“He already knows,” Keith muttered, scratching his head. “He noticed- he caught me telling Akira the- the story about the red lion and purring to Akira when he was fussy. He’ll probably crow about it.”

“And you haven’t answered your grandson’s question, _Appah_ ,” Shiro added. He wasn’t quite sure of his pronunciation, but the Galra word usually came across as ‘Papa’ through the translators. He rather liked it, because the translators tried to flavor it with connotations of old-fashioned and nurturing, and without the formal, authoritarian connotations of the words used for ‘Sire’ or ‘Father.’ “Are you feeling better?”

Thace finished changing Akira; Shiro could tell because his son went from giggling to snuffling a bit as his clothing was put back on. “After a fashion, Daddy. You have reminded me that I have much to live for, still.” Shiro wormed his way under Thace’s left arm, looking up to see Thace smile at Akira, then at him. “I have my composure back, but... Their loss will be with me for the rest of my days.” He paused. “And you, Keith? Learning what happened to Mayth-“

Shiro looked over in time to see Keith flinch, before getting to his feet. “I- I-“ he swallowed, and stepped over. He took the opposite side of Thace, looking down at Akira, hiding his face with his hair. “Is he okay?”

Shiro looked down to see his son sticking out his bottom lip and kicking his feet. 

“I’ve never met a whelp who enjoys clothing,” Thace said off-handedly, letting the subject drop. He put one of his large hands on Keith’s shoulder to squeeze it. “Mayth- your father,” and he paused, and Shiro imagined him tasting the word, “he disliked wearing clothes at this age. But Zace would have happily been a nudist his entire life. I used to have to chase him after his baths to get clothes on him. This lasted until he was ready to begin school.”

The mental image of Thace chasing a squealing, giggling child through his ancient, ramshackle house was more than enough to coax a giggle from Shiro and a snicker from Keith. 

“It’s hard to imagine Uncle Zace like that,” Keith said quietly. 

“I can tell you more, if you like. It is… it is good to share those memories, with someone who knew them.” He sighed. “They would doubtless beg me to stop embarrassing them, despite the tales being _true_.”

Keith finally cut his eyes back to Shiro and Thace, and Shiro’s heart _ached_ to see the gleam of tears there. But at the same time, Keith was finally allowing it to show, out in the open, where someone else could see it. 

Thace hadn’t really stopped purring, and he picked up Akira to put him to his chest, and drew both Shiro and Keith close again. Shiro could feel the vibrations coming from three different sources, and it was felt good. It helped the anger and the pain bleed away safely. 

They probably would have returned to the blanket nest if Thace’s stomach hadn’t snarled like Godzilla. And Keith’s followed a beat later.

“Maybe it’s time for some food?” Shiro asked.

Thace sighed while Keith laughed weakly.

*~*~*~*~*

The request was one that Pidge wasn’t sure she felt right fulfilling.

“I need to see what happened to them,” Dad said, after Thace had left and had been chased by both Shiro and Keith. 

“What happened to them wasn’t your fault,” Matt objected. “Don’t torture yourself with it.” In the background, Pidge could see the Alteans, and Hunk and Lance, nodding in agreement. 

“If it had been _anyone_ else with you on Kerberos, they would still be alive.” Dad pulled off his glasses, pinching the skin between his brows. “In all likelihood, a _lot_ of people would still be alive, because they were both helping in the Resistance.”

“You couldn’t have stopped the druids from getting in your head,” Matt said fiercely. “They did the same thing to all of us. Besides, Dad, there was no way you could have known that a Galra patrol would be coming by _right that minute_. You were the most qualified person for the job. We all were.”

“Watching them die doesn’t make them less dead,” Hunk interrupted. “It won’t bring them back.”

“They were my friends. Not seeing, not _knowing_ what happened… It feels like I’m a coward who abandoned them,” Dad said after a moment. “Katie. Please.”

Pidge bit her bottom lip and opened up her computer, bringing up the screen. “We got a lot of information from Sendak’s ship. We might have a recording.”

The room went silent for several moments as she worked; the translating algorithm meant she could sort through the information from the Galra files without being fluent in their script. She was able to pare down the list by timestamp, by topic, by-

It popped up faster than she would have thought. The video file itself was frozen, the first frame displaying a pair of slightly shorter-than-average Galra bound and kneeling on the deck.

Somehow she hadn’t imagined Thace’s sons being fully grown adults, despite them knowing her Dad. But they looked a _lot_ younger than her Dad’s age of fifty-seven. One seemed to be fully mature adult, and his resemblance to Thace was striking. He lacked the streaks of gray in his deep purple hair, but the jaw, eyes and ears were almost identical. But unlike his sire, he resembled a brawler: there was a scar through one of his brows, and his nose was crooked. ‘Built like a brick shithouse’ came to mind, and was dressed in the scary-bat faced armor of most Galra soldiers. The other beside him had the same general features as Thace as well, but was much more slender, with thick, wavy black hair that almost hid his crest and sideburns. He was dressed in deep red surcoat over black armor. He looked much younger, if still an adult but closer to Shiro’s age. 

The older was had to be Zace, and he had the same stony expression she had seen on Thace’s face before. Mayth, on the other hand, looked deeply resigned. 

“Dad?” she asked.

“Play it.”

Pidge tightened her jaw and nodded. 

_“… going on? Sendak, what is the meaning of this-“_ Together, both Agamens faces slid into horror as Thace came into view.

 _“Agamen Zace and Mayth are guilty of high treason and conspiracy against the Empire.”_ Sendak’s form crossed the view of the camera, followed closely by Haxus. _“You were summoned here as a witness, under the authority of Emperor Zarkon.”_ Sendak’s teeth were bared in a sadistic smile. _“You can’t protect them anymore, General.”_

_“What evidence is there? I demand to see it!”_

_“Denied. Be grateful we haven’t found anything to implicate_ you _yet.”_

Sendak looked weird. The camera was situated somewhere on the wall. Both of the prisoners were in the middle of its field of view, while Sendak was in the top left while Thace was in the bottom right, surrounded by drone soldiers. 

_“I outrank you-“_

_“Not anymore.”_ The smile turned into a smirk.

She blinked and realized the difference. Two arms. Sendak had two normal arms, instead of the weird glowing prosthetic, and his body was less muscular because of it. 

_“Please.”_ Thace’s voice was soft, flat, but the note of begging was there. _“They’re your blood, too. Don’t do this.”_

Sendak walked across the room, holding a blaster in his hands. Casually, he stood in front of Mayth, and shot him in the head.

_“NO!”_

Zace trembled, staring at Mayth as he slumped forward. _“I’m sorry, Papa. I tried to keep him-“_

The second shot was another abrupt hiss of plasma, and Zace’s body fell to the ground without ceremony, dropping over the smaller form on his left. 

Silence fell, save for the sound of ragged breathing coming from Thace as Sendak holstered his blaster. _“Honestly, why do you care? You can always make-“_

“Turn it off!”

Pidge reacted to the order instinctively, smashing the keyboard and exiting out of the video program to twist around. Shiro was standing in the door, clenching his fists as he stood between both Thace and Keith and Akira. Behind him, Thace had pulled Keith to his chest, covering his eyes and looking away as his ears flattened back, squeezing both Keith and Akira. Weirdly, Keith was hugging him back, chest hitching up and down with sobs.

“What the hell was that? Why were you-“ Shiro started. “When did-“

“I asked Pidge to show me, Shiro,” Dad interjected. “I’m sorry- I wanted to know- Thace. It was my fault and I am so-“

“You had no more power over that moment than I did,” Thace replied, voice hoarse. “Blaming yourself means you feel like you could have changed the outcome somehow. I’ve gone back there a thousand times, each time wondering how I could have saved them. Could have kept this from happening. If only I had been faster, stronger. If only I had killed Sendak as a whelp. If only I had been more aware of their activities. If only I had taught them to be heartless, to not tie themselves to such madness as the Resistance, to be proper Galra. But I could not kill my brother even when he proved himself a monster time and again. My sons chose to hide their activities from me. And I could not have made myself love them less, even for their own good.” Thace looked at Keith, dropping his hand from Keith’s face, showing that it was red and blotchy and there was a ball chain dangling from one of his closed fists. 

Well, curiouser and curiouser.

“They were great friends. Good people,” Dad said. “I’m proud to have known them.”

Around her, Pidge saw Hunk sniffling, and Matt was casting his eyes down at the table. Allura was clenching her hands together so tightly that the joints and knuckles were white, while Coran was openly sobbing. Lance, though, Lance was watching Keith and biting his bottom lip. She could only assume it was because Keith looked like _shit_ at that moment.

“Okay. _Okay_ everybody. We need to stop this right now. Right now,” Hunk announced. “We are sitting at this table, we are eating good food and no more sad memories. Only happy memories. Okay? _Only_ happy memories because we’re all feeling homesick and want to hug people. I would totally hug you, Mr. Thace, but you’re kind of scary. No offense. Keith, your badassery has been confirmed by hugging a Galra. I mean, we all knew Shiro was a badass already because of the whole Champion thing and having a cub. So he can totally hug Galra without it being a big deal. And-“

“Hey- Hunk- breathe!” Pidge called, reaching out to pat his arm. His face was turning a few very interesting shades of red. She turned to her Dad, who had taken off his glasses and ran his sleeve over his eyes. “Dad-“

“I think that’s a fine idea. I would- I have a lot of good memories of my friends, and I think sharing them would be an appropriate memorial.” 

Thace’s ears flicked back to normal. “I would like to hear them. I… was telling someone earlier that sharing memories helps. I would like to know of my son’s time on Earth. And hearing more of your stories would be pleasant.” He shifted Akira in his arms. “Often there was little to do in our cell, save share stories. Shiro told me much of Earth. It sounds like a beautiful world.”

Shiro came over, putting one of his hands on Thace’s arm, reaching up to brush his face. She could feel, more than see, Matt’s glower. 

“Don’t remember much of that. I might repeat myself.”

“Then I shall hear them again.”

In the background, she saw Keith walk over to Lance, who got to his feet and hugged him, whispering in his ear. Keith nodded, pulling back putting a small kiss on Lance’s cheek. Well. Those two were getting more serious than hate fucking. 

“Then let’s eat!” Hunk said, whirling to head to the kitchen. “Lance! Keith! With me! We are getting the food out!”

Shiro walked Thace to the table and urged him to sit, absently petting Akira’s head. The cub was cooing faintly, and Thace turned him around so he could see what was happening. Pidge offered a finger for him to grab, which he took, chortling as she wiggled it. Shiro and Thace tickled his tiny feet, with Shiro babbling “I got your toes! Yes I do, baby boy! Got your toes!” in that high sing-song of dams everywhere. 

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw her Dad smile. Matt, on the other hand, cleared his throat.

They all looked up at him, even Allura and Coran. There were shadows in Shiro’s eyes, but Thace folded his arms around Akira, hunching over like a gargoyle. 

“I… I owe you an apology for what happened,” Matt said, bringing his eyes up to Thace’s. “I thought I saw you hurting Shiro, and I-“

“You saw a beast hurting one of your cohort and rushed to his aid. That is understandable, and commendable. I am sorry we gave you such a scare. Rest assured, that hurting Shiro is the last thing I desire. I have never seen the appeal of forcing an unwilling partner,” Thace interrupted. “I have never been with someone who did not consent enthusiastically.”

“And I am quite enthusiastic,” Shiro said, and lifted an eyebrow at Thace. Thace took his hand.

“Some Galra keep pleasure slaves-“ Matt said. He was frowning at the table. “The overseer on our rig did.”

Thace grimaced. “Yes. My Clan has not kept slaves since my great-grandfather’s day, as we could not afford it after the majority of us were purged for sedition.” He sighed. “And I have no desire to indulge in, or have ever indulged in the use of pleasure slaves. I have never had trouble finding a willing partner, and willing partners are far more exciting.”

Shiro smiled. “I excite you?”

Thace’s answering smile was utterly wicked. “Oh yes.”

Pidge was grateful for the food arriving. Matt’s frown nearly broke his face as Shiro and Thace flirted, and Dad was trying not to laugh. Allura’s expression was… odd, turned inward. She pulled herself free, though, when she smelled the food. 

“I hope you enjoy this, Thace,” Allura chirped. The Galra looked at her suspiciously. “No, really. It’s excellent. Hunk worked for several hours while you were recuperating. He let me taste test it earlier.”

Thace’s ears twitched as he bounced Akira on one knee. “No, she’s right. We tried to figure out something that you might like. I remember you trying to feed me things when we were at your old house. So, I thought we could return the favor,” Shiro told him.

There was platter after platter of food coming out, and Akira was making small, curious sounds as he tried to watch with those bright gray eyes of his, happily gnawing his Thace’s fingers. 

Most of the food coming out didn’t look familiar, but it smelled savory. “What is it?” Thace asked as he looked at the plate. 

“Well, first, I have this stuff,” he said, and Pidge cringed a bit at it. It still had eyes. Tiny, tiny eyes on things that could have been fish fry or tiny maggots, piled high on top of a bowl of the pseudo grain and small seeds. “It’s from the planet we just left. There’s also this-“ and he pointed to another bowl, this time of a strange blue fungus that had been fried and then drizzled with a brown sauce. “You mentioned this fungus and-“

He laid out dish after dish, most of them looking odd and smelling strange to her but Allura was practically drooling- Keith was, too- and Thace’s ears were twitching back and forth. “And then, finally, for dessert, I have this!”

It was beige, and looked like some kind of pudding. “And what’s this?” Pidge asked, peering down at it. It didn’t really smell sweet. 

“Whipped bone marrow!” Oh gag.

Thace had let go of Shiro’s hand to pick up a spork, frowning at the food, like he was afraid it might attack. Well, given that they _were_ in the Castle- 

Everyone watched as he carefully scooped up a mouthful of the fish and grain thing. Put it in his mouth. Chew slowly and carefully. 

He made a small sound, one that Pidge barely heard, but had Shiro lifting his eyebrows and put a hand on his arm. Thace put his spork down.

“You don’t like it?” Hunk asked, visibly deflating.

Thace shook his head. “It’s delicious. I’m… I’m just surprised that you went to this amount of trouble.”

“Well, um, yeah?” Hunk put his fingers together. “You had a rough year, even if you did sort of get a fiancé and baby out of it but you lost a lot and we had a welcome party for the Holts yesterday but not for you and you’re here by yourself without any other Galra and that’s gotta be lonely and you’re fighting your own species and- and-“

“Hunk- breathe-“ This time it was Lance who said it. 

“I wanted to cheer you up. That’s what teams and packs do, right?” Thace’s yellow eyes were fixed on Hunk, making him squirm. Slowly, the Galra nodded. 

“Thank you.”

“I think you made a friend, Hunk,” Shiro said cheerfully, as Thace picked his spork back up for another bite. Pidge wondered if Shiro had gone insane. Thace grunted in reply.

“So. Happy Memories!” Coran stated after a few moments of inhaling his food. Around her, she could see Allura tucking in with more speed than etiquette would require, and Matt looked unimpressed with it. Dad would happily eat anything homecooked, and was doing so, and looking at her with a bit of disappointment when she didn’t enthusiastically join in. What could she say? She was a pizza and hotdog girl. Shiro seemed content to join in, Lance didn’t seem bothered, but Keith’s cheeks were puffed out, almost choking. Akira was watching them all eat with a sort of confused longing. Thace chucked his chin in reassurance. 

“I remember a time…”

~*~*~*~*~

Allura propped her chin on her hands, listening to Coran recount a simple story for his childhood, watching his grandfather overseeing the construction of the Castle. She had heard these stories her whole life, but before now she had always imagined him as Altean. Now… she wondered what he had looked like.

The stories continued. Hunk talked about cooking with his mother. Lance rhapsodized about learning to swim with his siblings. Pidge shared a tale of Matt teaching her programming. He, in turn, offered a story about karaoke with Shiro. Shiro looked down at Akira, mentioning that he had a ghost of a memory, feeling his little bean move for the first time. Thace added to it, saying that Shiro had suddenly started to laugh, calling him down to feel. Shiro inhaled deeply, more memory filling his gaze, hands splayed over his belly. He leaned into Thace. 

The next tale-teller was Commander Holt as he recounted meeting Mayth in a tale which involved Matt’s birth, his mate’s best friend attacking Mayth with a land-vehicle and then rocks and then a pet-name-contest that ended with said female winning. Keith suddenly snickered. 

“Uncle Sven was _a Galra?_ ” Matt ground out. He was gaping. “That- Mayth was _Uncle Sven?_ And Aunt Miku-“ he couldn’t continue. Pidge was blinking at confusion as they both shook their heads.

“So you all knew about the Galra.” It was Keith who said that, tilting his head. “The _Garrison_ knew about the Galra.”

“Nothing so dramatic, Keith,” Commander Holt said. “I knew, Laura knew, and Miku knew. We tried to keep Mayth far out of line of sight, just using the tech he had dug up investigating the ancient Alteans. He never said exactly what he was looking for. He was pretty quiet about it. But he did tell us we had about a Galra generation to get ready, and started leaking technology to us.”

Everyone stopped. Stared. 

“Mayth must have been desperate, if he thought uplifting your species was that important,” Allura said quietly. 

“We had already completed a station on our moon, and hand landed on Mars, the closest tolerable planet,” Holt said. “But it was nowhere near close to giving the Galra a good fight.”

“Twenty to twenty-five years isn’t long enough to get us ready,” Pidge began, before Holt chuckled.

“I said a Galra generation, kiddo. They age much slower than us, if the math we did was correct.” He looked over at Thace. “Mayth hadn’t reproduced when we first met, and he was about, sixty-four when we did the math to figure out time units. Zace was over a hundred and eighty-nine. Galra males usually don’t breed younger than a hundred, unless the circumstances were extraordinary.”

“I was quite young when Zace was born,” Thace acknowledged. Allura saw Shiro’s eyes widen, before Thace put his arm around Shiro’s shoulder. Shiro swallowed. “Barely at half the usual age, though we are physically capable of breeding long before we usually do. It’s why so many half-breeds exist.”

Allura paused. Shiro had hinted that things had changed, but… Surely. Surely not that much.

“At any rate, humanity had taken seventy years to go from powered flight to the moon. I got to the Kuiper belt in my lifetime. We had a chance of keeping the Empire back, or at least evacuating our people.” He rubbed his nose. “So the brass knew that aliens existed, but not if they were still out there. Iverson knew. Because of…” he looked at Keith and coughed. “Well. The story involves mint tea, my couch, an episode of Doctor Who, a midnight run to the pharmacy with a stoned Galra in the back of Miku’s truck and a stray dog.”

Allura was politely baffled as the Paladins all burst into laughter. After that, the stories became steadily more and more ridiculous. Shiro recounted using sign language to coordinate pranks with his brother, Lance talked about a pretty girl at the Garrison. Hunk added a story about accidentally blowing up Bunsen burner (ah, the translator had fun with that one) while making peanut brittle (and the translator gave her something involving legumes) in high school chemistry. (The translator threw something out involving late adolescent schooling. Or a place of eternal torment.) Pidge talked about how she managed to learn how to pee standing up. Allura mentioned wanting to learn how to use a sword, which was considered barbaric, and beneath royal dignity.

“Oh, I remember that!” Coran said. “The queen was so upset she scolded you and you ran away!”

“Packed my bags and headed to the closest mountain. But I got lost. When it got dark, I climbed a tree and fell asleep,” Allura added. It wasn’t quite as absurd as some of the others, but she had been coached to maintain her dignity at all times.

“Yeah. Your father found you afterwards and helped you down,” Coran said, a faint smile on his face. “He was so worried.”

“Ah. No. It wasn’t my father, Coran.” Allura ducked her head. “It was… it was Zarkon, actually.”

The entire room fell silent. Well, except for Akira. He was chewing on his own fist and slobbering encouragement for her to continue.

“He woke me up and I told him, quite firmly, that I wasn’t going back. That I didn’t want to live in the palace anymore. I was tired of being royalty and wanted to go have adventures. I think I told him I wanted to run away on a pirate ship. Or join the circus. I was a child at the time.” She looked down at her clenched hands. “He said that was fine, he wanted to run away too. So he stayed with me in the tree until morning and I got hungry and changed my mind. Then he walked me home.” She had nearly forgotten that story. “I wish… I never understood why he changed from the person who would listen to a child who wanted to play with swords to… what he is now.”

“None of us do,” Thace answered. “The history of that time is lost to any scholar who dares to investigate, and the risk is high.” He sighed, and pressed his lips to Shiro’s hair. “Perhaps if we learned, we could uncover how best to defeat him.”

“We defeat him by fighting,” Allura replied, steel in her voice. “And by not giving up.”

Thace closed his eyes, burying his nose in Shiro’s hair. “Of course.”

Silence fell, but was broken a few moments later by Keith. 

“I have a story,” he said, tapping one hand on the table. He looked nervous. “Um. It’s about my grandfather. Um. My uncle Zace told it to me.” And both Shiro and Thace jerked upwards to stare at him, and Lance along with them. “He, uh. His littermate had an early heat and was told she had to go to a breeding center. She didn’t want to go. So he took her into the woods and booby-trapped most of it until the officer who came to get her was so frustrated he left.”

“That’s… a bit of a simplification… but fairly accurate,” Thace said. 

“Uncle Zace tried to embellish it but he told me when I was seven.” Keith stopped, licked his lips. “Grandfather.”

The entire table erupted in confusion.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Edit: People seem interested in the mint tea incident, and I have other ideas for short asides, like Shiro adjusting to living in Thace's house, Mayth's field notes on humanity, the snufflepod incident, etc. Would people be interested in some of them? You can leave a comment or message me at ashacrone dot tumblr dot com.


	13. Chapter 13

Shiro watched the cacophony rise up as those not in the know- and Commander Holt was smiling, so he had known, and Lance was preening and smug about it- started to stare and deny.

Pidge, in particular, had nearly dropped her jaw to the floor, while Matt was peering at Keith like he had grown another head. Allura and Coran was both flabbergasted: Coran had turned purple in surprise and Allura’s had tied her spork in a knot. Hunk had looked shocked but then snapped his jaw closed, nodding like the universe suddenly made a lot more sense.

“You knew?” Pidge yelped, whirling on Lance. “How the hell did you keep that to yourself?”

“You’re just jealous I knew before you did,” Lance said, leaning back in his chair and crossing his arms.

“I don’t sleep with the guy!”

“Come on, should have been a least a little obvious. No pop culture, grumpy as hell-“

“A lot less grumpy after he started getting laid,” Hunk said, and poked Lance in the ribs, making him jump- and Keith caught his chair before he was dumped on the floor.

“Come on, you let me think you identified as a guy for months. I’m not so blind as to think that you had shifted,” Lance griped after Keith set up upright again. “You always made it sound like you were going to get hormone therapy later. So get over it. I knew something before you did.”

“Well, in his defense, he would know as well as I do that shifting hurts and -“ Shiro offered, before Pidge cut him off.

“He- he _what?_ ” Pidge said, jaw flapping back and forth, and Matt didn’t look much better. 

Lance threw Shiro a stink-eye. “I hadn’t told her yet.“

Hunk coughed and scratched his head. “I kinda, um, the Princess was asking about sexes and how they were treated and I sort of brought up that you really don’t tell anyone unless you know them real well…”

“Wait. Ah. You’re like Shiro?” Coran said, and rubbed his chin. “Well. That explains the implants. I should have realized from the readouts from the cryo-refresher.”

Lance was still giving Shiro a stink eye before Keith put a hand on his shoulder. 

Shiro put up his hands. “I thought she knew!”

“Why didn’t you ever tell me?” Pidge said, voice rising.

“Because Omegas still get treated like shit if we’re outed?” Lance muttered. 

“Because it’s dangerous?” And this time it was Keith who spoke. “I mean, Shiro never told me about being an in-between, and in-betweens that don’t try to change their genders when they shift are still seen as weird.” Lance hunched his shoulders at that. “You’re weird but not because of that,” Keith responded, and Lance rolled his eyes. 

Thace looked thoughtful. “And you can’t smell the difference?”

“My nose isn’t very good,” Pidge answered, miffed. “And you’re the one who didn’t want us to have secrets, to bond as a team, _Lance_!”

“I used a scent diffuser at the Garrison and I’ve got a hormone regulator and implant both,” Lance clarified. “And I only told Hunk because we were roommates!”

“And beta senses, which are what you have right now, aren’t going to notice quite as much as an Alpha or Omega,” Sam added. “So you shouldn’t- oh, you noticed, Thace?”

Shiro felt, more than saw, Thace shrug. “Yes. He smelled like Shiro. Not quite as strongly, but it was there.” He tilted his head. “What happens to people like you, who-“ and he fumbled the words. “Who shift to Omega? You mistreat your queens? Why would anyone _do_ that?” 

The entire room went quiet. “From the way you’ve described how queens are treated,” Shiro said and trailed off.

“No one would offer one _violence_ ,” he said, sounding appalled. “Purebloods are barred from military service but they still may study and join a profession or trade. My littermate is a geneticist, Zace’s dam Rhia is a physicist and Mayth’s dam Mirae is a lauded xeno-linguist. You _do not_ disrespect a queen.”

“We’re getting yelled at by a Galra, guys,” Matt said, face palming. “The space Nazi is lecturing us.”

Shiro flipped him off. 

“And we’re kinda getting away from the main point that, um, _Keith is half Galra_ ,” Hunk said, bringing them back around. “And you kinda didn’t tell us. And you look human.” He eyeballed Keith. “Are you wearing one of those mask thingies?”

Pidge was sitting in range of Keith, and she promptly pawed his face. 

“Hey!”

“Feels human to me.” She got up and grabbed his jaw, pressing on the sides to get his mouth to open. “Human teeth, too.”

Keith tried to sputter, eventually grabbing her wrists to pull her off. “Dad did something. Not sure what it was. He gave mom some kind of medicine and made me look human.”

Pidge frowned. “We have evidence that half-bloods really, really don’t look like humans.” She pointed to Akira, who was chewing on his fingers and drooling as he smiled. Shiro chuckled, leaning over to kiss his boy, who squealed and laughed at Daddy. “Cute evidence, but still.”

Keith looked over at Thace, who nodded, bringing out the family sword. “Uncle Zace gave this to me when I was little.”

“Dude gave a knife to a kid?” Now Lance sounded freaked out.

“We give knives to young people with proper training and supervision,” Thace protested. “I’ve had some sort of blade since before I began my schooling.”

“He could have cut his fingers off-“

“Dad didn’t let me play with it after Mom told him not to!” Keith groused. “And the point is that if I didn’t have Galra blood- _Agamen_ blood in particular-I couldn’t make it do this.” And he frowned at the blade, which extended into a curved sword.

Still pretty impressive. Thace’s was cool, too, but seeing Keith do it would take some getting used to. The table was silent again.

“Huh.” Coran was blinking. “Mayth was an archaeologist studying the Alteans?”

Sam nodded. “Yes. He had uncovered artifacts and information on several dozen worlds, first as a student and then on his own. Apparently, he used a nanobot virus.” He shrugged a bit sheepishly as his children turned to him. “It wasn’t my secret to share, kids. But, Keith, you _were_ planned. Miku and Mayth were both feeling a bit baby-hungry, probably because they both helped babysit you, Matt. Once Mayth was certain the virus was safe they decided to use it once Miku had conceived.” He adjusted his glasses. “He thought it was a bit of a gamble but… he did it.”

Thace’s ears went flat on his head in disapproval. 

“Coran… you mentioned something about this before. I wasn’t aware of how it worked. Just that there was a treatment to keep a half-blood’s Galra ancestry suppressed.” Allura seemed to be recovering… somewhat. She was still twisting her spork into interesting shapes, but she didn’t look at Keith with the same bile she inflicted on Thace. Just surprise. 

“Why would the Alteans do that?” Pidge asked, settling back down. “You said you could shape-shift.” 

“Our cubs, our babies, they don’t have control over it as infants.” Coran shrugged. “And if a dam, a mother, is trying to hide her child’s ancestry… well.”

“Why would she?” Pidge asked.

This time both Allura and Coran winced. “A lot of reasons. I’m from a backwater colony. We got used to people from all species living together, and that meant a lot of Galra, and a lot of half-bloods because of the Galra. But in the home systems… The closer you got to Altea, the more stratified our society became. We had noble houses, different merchant and trade guilds, various priesthoods and clergy… and few aliens.” Coran looked down. “Half-bloods usually weren’t allowed into any of those organizations, save the military. You got pregnant by a Galra? You got kicked out. Of your family, your profession and career. Not always, of course, but it happened often enough.”

Shiro blinked at both of them. “But your grandfather designed the castle.”

“Because he had connections with the Galra Clan Coalition. His father had friends in Zarkon’s Clan, and he was a very good engineer.” Coran leaned back, his eyes were steady on his plate. “I… remember a particularly ugly scandal. The couple were very much in love. She was the Spare, you see, to the Heir of her family, and… then she wasn’t. She had to hide the pregnancy, used the virus, and there was political pressure for her to shift to male afterwards so that she could pretend that she had sired the child instead.” He sighed. “Things like that happened more than once.”

Allura had crushed her spork. “Oh, really?”

Coran’s eye ticked, suddenly scratching his mustache, the back of his head and sweating. “Well, yeah! They wouldn’t need to make this virus thing if it wasn’t that often, right?”

And Shiro…

He felt lips against his hair. “Peace. Akira is safe. So is Keith,” Thace whispered, and Shiro looked down to see his hand was glowing. He willed it to be cold again. “The past cannot be changed. We both know this.”

Shiro leaned into Thace as he put Akira into Shiro’s lap. Akira, who had his Appah’s ears, fur, and oversized hands and feet, and Shiro’s eyes and hair. His mother’s chin. Akira, who looked up at his Daddy in concern because Daddy wasn't smiling at him, and blew and bounced until Shiro leaned down to put their faces together and rub his ears.

Excising half of someone because of _politics?_ Because they were afraid of… What? Two people loving each other? It wasn't putting the species in danger. But the idea of not seeing Thace- who fucking _lived_ for his children- reflected in Akira or their future cubs made his blood boil in a way that… He really couldn't rationalize. He just felt angry.

Allura had dropped the spork and was clenching her fists.

“But once you knew about Thace, you could have told us,” Pidge said. 

Keith looked down. “I didn't know what to say. That I was half alien? But I look human and I'm not quite sure how? That, after a while, I had no idea what to say?” He exhaled. “I had been afraid to tell you, sir – Grandfather. I thought…” He trailed off, but Shiro could guess at the words he was leaving out. Keith had been convinced he was unlovable and thought anyone who tried was fooling themselves. It had taken a lot of patience and understanding from Shiro, and a lot of bravery from Keith, for Keith to even start opening up to him. 

“I am glad you did.” Shiro looked up to see Thace smiling at Keith, and swallowed. Thace understood- at least some of it. The courage it took to be vulnerable. They were cut from the same cloth, after all. “But I was happy to know you before you told me of our blood ties.”

Keith sniffled, wiping his eyes and looking away even as his smile split his face.

_I am keeping him_ , Shiro thought with determination, looking down at Akira had scrunched up his face, giving him a gummy grin. _And five. At least five cubs._

“Well, what do we do now?” Hunk asked. Trust Hunk to keep their priorities. “I’m glad you came out of the space closest, Keith, but unless you turn purple in, like, the next five seconds it basically means business as usual. Unless, wait, can you do that? Can you?” He peered at Keith, eyes narrowing. “Turn purple, I mean?”

“Ah- n- no?” Keith said, putting his hand on the sword and letting it shrink back into a dagger and putting it away. “I mean, I kinda gave myself away on the Balmera when I opened up the locked hangar with my handprint. But other than that-“

“You got a bit of Galra in you,” Lance said slyly. “Shiro, your Galra guy purr in his sleep?”

Shiro blinked. “Yeah?”

“Cuddle like an octopus?”

“Well, yeah,” Shiro said, and nodded. 

“Bumpy dick?” Lance asked, and everyone around the table who was not Lance or Shiro suddenly sputtered and coughed. 

“That is way more than I ever wanted to know about Keith, Lance,” Shiro said. Then he coughed and looked away. “But yes.”

Keith and Thace shared The Glance of Long-Suffering, while everyone else groaned.

“I think the point to take away from this now is that Keith being half Galra is like Lance being an Omega,” Shiro said, once everyone had recovered. “As of right now, it pretty much means full disclosure so it doesn’t bring up trouble down the road. No one treats anyone negatively and we’re fine.” He glanced at Matt out of the corner of his eye. He seemed to be handling things well enough; no more ugly comments, at least. Allura was… not looking so good, but she didn’t seem incline to pass judgement in that moment. “So, is everyone good?”

There were nods from Team Voltron, and Sam smiled before nodding eagerly while Matt was sharp and neutral. Coran was still scratching at his mustache like he was trying to hide his mouth but he nodded too. Allura… was somewhere else right then, until Coran gently nudged her, and she nodded absently. 

“Okay.” Shiro looked around at the table… and realized that Thace had eaten most of the leftover food off his plate, somehow gotten Pidge’s, and emptied any food platters nearby. Hm. Compliments to the chef indeed. “Then let’s clean up and go to the lounge? I want to hear about how you apparently trapped an entire forest,” he said to Thace. 

It was enough to get people to move, and Shiro shoved his chair back, planting a kiss on Akira’s head and getting to his feet so he could land one on Thace before he got up. Thace caught him and turned the kiss into something a lot more lingering and sweet, one of his big hands just over Shiro’s ass and the other on the back of his neck and his tongue was warm and rough in his mouth-

“And the PDA continues,” Hunk said. “Can you take it _somewhere else_ if you get hot and heavy this time?”

~*~*~*~*~*~

“So, this is our _new_ new room,” Shiro said, as he and Thace carried Akira’s bassinet into a new set of quarters.

Thace coughed as they set it down. “I did offer to help repair things.”

“You might have been able to patch the walls, but I did a pretty thorough job destroying the door, and… um… I think everyone would prefer we had one,” Shiro added. It was his turn to feel sheepish. Not that he regretted it. “And it’s not like the Castle lacks in space.”

“Trust me, we would all prefer you had a nice, solid, soundproofed door between you and us,” Keith said, voice muffled by the crate he was holding. Lance was behind him, holding Akira. “Why do you get to hold the cub again?”

“Because you’re the big, strong Alpha and you owe me,” Lance chirped. “Besides, I see you being all manly and then nurturing and they’ll be finding us screwing on the floor in public next.”

“Too much information, Lance!” Shiro said, rolling his eyes as Thace took the crate and set it on the desk. They had managed to put Akira’s baby things in the bassinet to keep the trips to a minimum. Shiro had already tossed his few possessions in with Thace’s. 

“Come on, don’t tell me that watching Thace fighting and then being all big strong protective sweet Dad-“

His face lit up. “Shut up Lance!”

Thace chuckled. It sounded far more evil than usual. “I’ll take Akira. He’ll be hungry soon.”

Keith smiled. “Do you want to spar tomorrow, if we have time before the next mission… Grandfather?” He was getting better at using the name.

Thace nodded. “After the morning meal.”

“Oh yeah,” Lance cheered, before Keith dragged him out. “What?” The door closed behind him.

Akira was starting to make fussy sounds, rubbing his little face on Thace’s coveralls and gumming on it. “Do you want to feed him or shall I?” he asked.

Shiro looked down. “I’ve not filled back up since last time.” He made a face. Akira had gotten hungry during the second round of storytelling and he had, without thinking, pulled up his shirt and vest to let him nurse. 

Sam had politely looked away. Matt had been appalled and promptly twisted in his seat so not to watch. Shiro had grimaced, while Pidge and Lance had started sniping at him, while Keith said “He knows you’re Japanese, right?” under his breath. 

Thace hadn’t spoken, but Shiro got the feeling that Thace wasn’t going to be feeding Akira in the public areas of the ship himself anytime soon.

“You spoil me,” Shiro said after a few moments, watching Thace get settled and opening the front of his coveralls. “Most human beta women and Omegas don’t have someone as willing to help with child rearing as you are.”

“I find it odd that they would be doing the rearing at all,” Thace said, sounding a bit baffled as he held Akira. “Aren’t they too busy?”

Shiro sat down with Thace and Akira, watching them. His son didn’t seem to care who was doing the nursing, just that he had something to drink. The sounds of his purrs and coos of contentment made Shiro feel peaceful as well. “Well, humans can’t really stop a pregnancy if they mate when they’re fertile. Most of us only have one at a time, but Omegas can do multiples pretty easily.” And the idea was… not as frightening as it once would have been. 

“Ah.” Thace didn’t speak for a few moments afterwards. “Does it bother you that we are so different?”

“Only when I find out that… even if we don’t get killed fighting Zarkon… you’ll probably watch me grow old and die? Yeah, a little.” Thace wouldn’t meet his eyes. “You knew.”

“I guessed. But, there are no guarantees in the universe. I have outlived most of my age mates by a fair margin, most dying in pointless, meaningless conquest. I am older than my own father when he died. In the case of your death I will see Akira healthy, happy, and adult, then follow you into the void.”

Shiro swallowed. “Thace-“

“I would look for you again.” He gently rocked Akira back and forth. “It seemed chance that we should meet in this life, but now that we have, I will look for you again.”

Shiro felt his eyebrow twitch, before burying his face in Thace’s neck. “Just, whatever you do, remember that… that Akira thinks you’re the best warm story-telling purring thing ever. Keith was starting to like you even before today, and you two are going to bond. That’s pretty obvious. You have other people than just me. Remember them. Don’t throw that away.”

“I’m not. Not if they need me. But I don’t think I could enjoy life without you for long.” He sounded rueful and tired rather than sad. Like it was one of the laws of the universe, an inescapable fact. “Don’t… feel bad about that. Or pity me. I am not giving up anything. Just… acknowledge that this is the path I’ve chosen.”

Shiro sighed. “I’m here now, though. Let’s enjoy living in the moment.”

Thace’s talons traced along his back. “After Akira has finished?”

Shiro smiled and pulled back. “Horny old bastard.” He nipped Thace’s chin, quickly, before moving away. “First, I need to find someone and continue… a discussion, we had started, while you were in the cryo-fresher.” 

Thace’s ears twitched toward him, but he nodded. “We will be here.”

Shiro got to his feet and walked out the door, waving at them as the door shut and scowled at it. “And just for _that_ little conversation, I am upping the number to ten.”

He sighed, thumbed his nose and looked down the hall to the Lion hangars. If they were going to beat Zarkon, he needed to know more. And there was only one entity that could answer his questions.

~*~*~*~*~

Allura let the smile drop from her face as the door of her quarters closed behind her.

It was the same room she had since she was child, though she had changed the décor somewhat with time. The fanciful riding beasts of childhood had given way to holos of musicians and other crushes, only to be discarded with wartime. Bright colors had become more muted and sophisticated, appropriate for someone of her rank. 

She walked to sit at her vanity. There was a small family portrait beside her jewelry boxes: herself, hugging Lotor, both of them on their father’s knee while their mother stood beside him. It was not a candid shot, which she would have preferred. The entire event had been staged for the press so they could see the royal family… but it was one of the last images of Lotor at all. 

She had taken after their father. White hair and dark skin, almost identical features; she could have been his female clone. Lotor was a blend of the two, with their white hair and Mother’s pale skin. Neither had her dark hair, but Lotor did have her impish demeanor.

She remembered her parents having quite a fight after that picture was taken. She had seen the faint scratch marks on Alfor’s chin, and had asked Mother if Father had made her cat angry. He had taken to wearing a beard after that.

She hadn’t seen anything like it again until their resistance contact had pointed out the same marks on Shiro.

Coran… he couldn’t have been talking about her, could he?

She met her own eyes in the mirror. So much like her… 

\- _Zarkon sitting her in his lap, gently brushing his fingers over her forehead and cheeks_ -  
\- _Patiently, patiently showing her how to use a stave, to grip a sword, to handle a shield_ -  
\- _Zarkon’s hand, resting casually on her father’s waist_ -  
\- _“You look so much like your mother.”_ -

Allura felt the breath freeze in her lungs. 

“No. That. That can’t be true.” She felt the mice run up her dress to puddle in her lap, looking up at her with their intelligent, glittering eyes. “I am Allura, daughter of Alfor and Haggar, sister of Lotor. Princess of Altea. This… this story is just salacious gossip. They were a political marriage but they were fond of each other.”

She reached up, drawing a line of purple down the side of her face. The mice ran up her arms to her shoulders, squeaking in concern. She couldn’t hear them. 

“I am Allura, daughter of A-alfor and, and Haggar. Sister of Lotor. Princess of Altea.” 

Her hands turned purple. She felt too _small_.

“I am Allura, daughter of Alfor, and,” her voice broke. “I am Allura, daughter of Alfor… Princess of Altea.”

She remembered her father’s AI becoming corrupted, then shattering the memory core with her own hands. The only thing left of him. But had there been anything true that he had told her? Had he ever been honest with her in his life?

The shards from the broken core had torn her hands and arms to ribbons. Now it was her heart in tatters.

“I am Allura, daughter of… daughter of Alfor and…” The heat in her eyes finally overflowed.

“I am Allura, daughter of… oh, Father, why didn’t you tell me?”

The End

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And this concludes Missing Pieces.  
> This felt like a natural end point of this story, though there will be a sequel coming. I am considering a social revolution type plot in how to defeat Zarkon with a side of reincarnation romance and love redeems. And maybe knocking up Lance but he's glaring at me. And a trip back to Earth. And Allura coming to terms with her father not being who she thought he was. This story has rather jumped the rails at this point but I'm still having fun with it, and I hope you are too. Thank you everyone who has commented and left kudos. You are literally what has kept the story going!


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